mmm protective izuku :)
The start of the following week, Sero started his work study. There was nearly no time for the two boys to text, let alone meet up. It was slim to no communication. Izuku didn't even know where he was, he never asked and Sero never said.
There was a mix of hope and dread when Izuku thought about that. Both caused because there was a chance Sero had realized Izuku was feeding information back to his father.
Needless to say, Izuku was restless. He wanted to do something, anything, that would distract him, even if just for a little bit.
Helping Shigaraki with the most idiotic plan Izuku had ever heard, was not what he wanted though.
"You want to convince Stain to join us?" Izuku asked him, his tone condescending and his arms crossed sassily over his chest. His little lesson in respect did nothing to fix his attitude when it came to Shigaraki.
Shigaraki gave him a side glance from where he sat at the bar, drink in hand. "What's wrong with it?"
This was their relationship now. Izuku didn't even pretend to respect Shigaraki and Shigaraki did nothing about it because the boy was a genius that provided assistance when asked.
"He'll never go for it," Izuku said, leaning back on the bar. "First off, you don't have a clear purpose other than 'destroying society to rebuild it', rebuild it to what? Why? He'll want answers. Second, you don't have a clear target, other than All Might, who by the way, is the only hero Stain actually likes. You don't have a mission and you don't have a means to achieve it. Stain values conviction, purpose. You lack those things. He'll just see you as a joke."
Shigaraki scowled and scratched at his neck more angrily than usual. He clearly didn't like that Izuku just poked holes in his master plan.
Izuku studied him for a second. "Oh my fucking god, you already talked to him, didn't you?"
The inhuman noise of rage was Izuku's answer.
"Let me guess, he said exactly what I just told you he would?"
A small nod.
Izuku hung his head with a tired sigh. It's like working with a toddler. "What're you planning now?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Izuku regretted asking almost immediately, but the regret just kept growing as the day went on. Now it was nightfall and he stood on top of a building in Hosu City, dressed the same way he was at the USJ.
"This is a terrible idea," he hissed at Shigaraki for the millionth time. The man was so annoyed he stopped responding an hour ago. "You're just throwing a tantrum, you realize that, right?"
Once again, he wasn't acknowledged.
Izuku huffed and took a seat on the edge of the rooftop, letting his legs dangle over the side. He wasn't sure how long it'd take for the plan to be set into motion, so he might as well get comfortable.
Since it was clear that Izuku knew how to handle Stain better than Shigaraki, he was supposed to find him during the chaos that was about to be unleashed. He was meant to convince him to join. Somehow. Izuku still wasn't sure how to do that.
"It's time," Shigaraki said at some random point. How he decided when it was 'time', Izuku had no idea. "You know what you have to do?"
Izuku just nodded.
Shigaraki smirked at him. "Good dog."
Izuku was so pissed he actually growled, which made him even more mad as Shigaraki cackled. He took off into the city before he could make any more jokes at Izuku's expense.
Time to find a hero killer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sero got paired with a lesser known hero for his work study, but he didn't mind. Any hero was perfectly fine with him. The agency he was working with was located in Hosu, a few blocks away from the one Iida was working at.
Before he had left, Uraraka had come up to him and asked him to watch out for Iida while in the city. The class had just heard about what happened to his brother and they were all worried. Sero explained that they would be at different agencies and therefore probably wouldn't see much of each other, but promised to do his best anyways. She had smiled gratefully at him.
Sero and the pro he was working with were just about to finish with their patrol for the night when it started. There were crashes and screams, civilians running in every direction. He just barely caught sight of creatures that resembled the thing Shigaraki had attacked his class with, when his mentor told him to get back to the agency. He wasn't allowed to use his quirk, so he had to go back where it was safe and alert the other pro heroes.
He nodded and took off in the direction of the agency. He wasn't an idiot, he knew he'd be nothing but a distraction and liability in the field. That didn't stop him from helping a few civilians on his way though.
He was so close to his agency, almost making it back, but a shout from an alley to his left caught his attention. It sounded suspiciously like...
Iida!
Sero recognized his hero costume. The other boy was on the ground, not moving a muscle, another pro hero motionless against the wall. If it wasn't for Iida's yelling, Sero would have thought he was dead.
He was shouting at.... Oh god, he was yelling at Stain. Sero silently cursed himself for not looking out for the other teen enough. Maybe he could have prevented whatever was happening.
Sero watched as Stain lifted his blade. He was going to bring it down and deliver a fatal blow.
Without a second thought, Sero sent his tape hurtling at Iida. It wrapped around his ankle and Sero pulled with all his might, managing to drag the teen clad in heavy armor just a few feet, but it was enough. Stain's blade hit nothing but concrete.
"Sero?!" Iida exclaimed. "What're you doing here? You need to run! This isn't your fight."
Sero disregarded everything he'd just said, but noticed that he still didn't move anything but his mouth and eyes. Maybe it was Stain's quirk? It was keeping him from having control over his limbs? Sero wasn't sure. Not for the first time, he wished he had Izuku's skills of analysis.
Before he made another move, he discretely grabbed his phone. He was sending his location to everyone in his class, hoping one of them would realize he was in danger and needed help.
Once he was sure it was sent, he got ready to face one of the most dangerous villains in Japan.
The battle went on for no more than ten minutes. Even with all his training with Izuku, Sero was no match for the hero killer and his paralyzing quirk. Something to do with blood.
Sero thought he was a goner, on the ground and unable to move, but before Stain could even get close to him, ice was shooting from the end of the alley, pushing back against Stain's advances.
"You should really give more details than just a location next time," Todoroki chastised as he entered the scene. He took in the sight of Sero, Iida, and Native, all unable to move. "What did you get yourselves into?"
So it turns out, even with the help of Todoroki and Stain's quirk eventually wearing off, they were still no match for him. They were losing badly. Sero knew it was just a matter of time before they were all unmoving lumps on the ground again.
So he did the one thing he could think of. He sent his location to Izuku.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Izuku was pretty sure he knew where Stain was and he was heading over there, his quirk activated and helping to propel him over the city. He was actually allowed to use his quirk this time and he was thrilled.
He was almost there when his phone buzzed. There were only four people with his number and he wouldn't want to ignore any of them at that moment in time, so he paused and checked.
It was a text from Sero, just his location.
Obviously when your boyfriend sends you nothing but his location, you're going to go to it. That's cryptic and alarming as hell.
But what really caught Izuku's attention and made his heart stutter, was the fact Sero was in Hosu. The one spot in Hosu Izuku thought Stain was.
He'd never ran so fast in his life. His feet barely touched the ground before he was jumping off a building and onto the next, moving so quickly he doubted people thought he was anything but a shooting star in the sky.
And when he jumped down into the alley, standing between the group of students and Stain, he landed hard, the ground around him cracking. His quirk was sparking, like he would explode at any moment.
He slowly turned his head to the hero killer, taking note of the tense body language.
"You must be Deku," Stain said, a sharp edge to his voice, just like the blade he wielded.
Izuku tilted his head, all the information he had on Stain coming to the forefront of his mind. "You picked the wrong UA student to fuck with," he said in a low, deadly tone.
Everyone in the alley held their breath, waiting to see what Izuku would do at that moment. There was a gasp, from the incapacitated students or Stain, no one was sure, but there was only a gasp. Then a crunch, a scream, a spray of blood, more screaming, and heavy panting.
Izuku left Stain screaming in pain behind him. His pace sped up as he approached the three downed students. He came to a skidding halt next to Sero, dropping to his knees and pulling him half onto his lap.
"You're okay, you're okay. Where'd he get you? Does it hurt? How bad was it? Do you feel woozy? Are you-" The questions just kept tumbling out of Izuku's mouth as he tried to hold himself together. He couldn't break down now, not when Sero needed him.
"I'm okay," Sero told him softly, still not able to move. "It was just a scratch, barely enough to bleed, but-"
"Just enough for him," Izuku finished, his voice going quiet.
"Iz," Sero said as a warning.
"I should kill him," Izuku said in a seething tone. His eyes flared red, something Sero had never seen before. For the first time, he was actually scared of Izuku.
Sero's index finger twitched. "If you do, you're no better than him," he tried to reason.
"I'm not," Izuku snapped back.
That was when Todoroki pushed himself up into a sitting position, apparently getting control of his body back first. Izuku's eyes zeroed in on the movement, but went back to Sero when he also was able to push himself up.
Todoroki regarded Izuku with cold eyes, which the greenette returned just as harshly. He turned his attention to Sero. "You're dating the villain that attacked us at the USJ."
"Sero!" Iida exclaimed, barely able to move his head. "Is this true?!"
Izuku glared at the both boys, pulling Sero behind him protectively. "The villain that saved all of your asses tonight and at the USJ."
"You held a knife to our classmate's throat," Todoroki countered.
Sero sighed in annoyance. "He did it so the nomu wouldn't go after us. Once it saw that Izuku was dealing with us, it left us alone."
Both boys blinked at him.
"And Tsu barely even had a bruise from the whole event because Izuku was making sure the other villains left us alone while we tried to get back to the rest of you, so please, shut the fuck up about things you know nothing about," Sero snapped.
Izuku wanted to marry him, right then and there. He had never seen anything as attractive as his boyfriend angrily defending him.
Instead, he just helped Sero to his feet. "C'mon, you guys have to get out of here. There's nomus everywhere."
With that they exited the alley, Izuku attached to Sero and Todoroki and Iida helping Native. Once they were out, they were found by a pro, who had them all sit on the curb and wait for backup and medical.
"Iz, you have to go," Sero prodded him. Native was still passed out, but Iida and Todoroki watched the two with careful eyes. Izuku knew they were prepared to jump in if they thought he was dangerous.
Izuku shook his head, holding Sero's hand tighter. "I'm not leaving you, not until I know you're actually okay."
Sero tried to push him away, worried he was going to get himself arrested. "I promise I'm completely fine. Please go before you get caught."
Neither of his classmates spoke up, both just watching. They knew Izuku was a villain and that he should be arrested, but the more they watched and the more they found out, it made them realize there was more to the story they weren't seeing. There was a reason he was a villain. They both concluded that he couldn't be that evil if he had saved them twice already.
Izuku didn't bother responding, just looked up into the sky. From the way his eyes were scanning, they could all tell he was looking for something.
"What is it?" Todoroki asked, startling Sero.
"One of those things can fly," Izuku answered, not missing a beat.
Todoroki nodded in understanding, not feeling quite as safe as he had a few seconds before.
"Please, lightning bug," Sero begged again. He pressed his face into the side of Izuku's neck. "You have to leave. If Mr. Aizawa shows up, you're screwed. There's no way in hell he won't recognize you. You have to leave."
Before Izuku could stubbornly say no again, Todoroki spoke once more. "Sero is right. You should leave before one of the pros realize what you are."
All three of the other boys looked at him with comically shocked expressions.
"'Roki?" Sero asked in a choked voice. He couldn't believe the boy wasn't trying to arrest Izuku himself, let alone trying to prevent it.
Todoroki let out a small puff of air and turned away from their gazes. "He can't be that bad if he saved our ass twice already," he mumbled in defeat. "It wouldn't hurt to have someone on the inside we can trust."
Izuku scoffed and was about to go on a tangent about how they can't trust him, but Sero held a hand over his mouth. It effectively shut him up.
"Thank you," Sero told him sincerely. "For trusting my judgment."
Before anyone could say anything else on the matter of Izuku leaving or not, a shadow fell over them. They looked up to see a very tired and pissed off Aizawa.
"What the hell did you three do?"
His eyes shifted over to Izuku. "Well you're not mine," he mumbled. The recognition crossed his features. In two seconds flat, his hair was floating and Izuku was wrapped up tight in his scarf.
"Remember how well this went last time, old man," Izuku drawled. "You only got away because I let you."
Sero smacked the back of his head, causing him to whine. "Now is not the time to be a smart ass."
"You know him?" Aizawa asked in shock. He seriously did not see that coming.
Sero was about to answer, but Izuku beat him to it. "Nope, just met the guy. He was getting his ass handed to him by Stain. Thought I'd lend a hand."
Aizawa looked between the two skeptically, especially at the frown Sero wore. "Are you the one that did that?" he asked Izuku, nodding his head towards where Stain was screaming as he was lifted into an ambulance.
Izuku flashed him the devil's smile. "Maybe."
"Why?"
Izuku shrugged, the best he could in those bindings, "I was bored."
Aizawa narrowed his eyes, flicking them between Izuku and Sero. "That wasn't boredom, that was personal."
Izuku definitely neutralized his face.
There was a tilt of Aizawa's head before he let Izuku go. Izuku seemed surprised by this, until Aizawa instead wrapped his scarf around Sero and pulled him away from Izuku's side.
It took Izuku half a second to launch himself at the pro, causing the other two students to leap to their feet and watch with alarm. Izuku knocked the man right down, green lightning crackling around him as his eyes blazed with fury.
"Don't fucking touch him," he hissed, holding his forearm to the pro's neck.
Aizawa didn't seem surprised or even phased. "Point proven."
Izuku blinked at him, then looked down, noting where he was now. He was quick to get off of Aizawa, standing and looking between the teacher and his boyfriend. His face, for once, was completely readable. He looked terrified.
That was when it clicked for him just how big of a weakness Sero really was. He finally understood why his father was so angry.
He hadn't even realized he'd moved. He had attacked Aizawa on pure instinct. The mere thought of Sero being in danger had triggered something in Izuku and he couldn't stop himself.
Aizawa got to his feet a few moments later, brushing himself off. "You're the League's dog."
It wasn't a question, but a statement.
Izuku, once again, was so angry he growled, once again, proving his point. "I'm not above killing an old man."
"Of course you're not, problem child." Aizawa rolled his eyes, clearly not afraid of the rabid kid in front of him.
Izuku pulled his beanie down, it had started to slip off from all the motion. "I'm not the League's dog. Shigaraki is just delusional."
Aizawa nodded, not agreeing or disagreeing, just cataloging the information. "You save my ass at the USJ, why?"
Sero looked over at Izuku with surprise. He'd never said anything about helping his teacher.
"I need your help with something," Izuku said simply. He was looking around, making sure no other pros were paying them any attention.
"With that?"
Izuku shook his head. "I can't tell you yet."
Aizawa looked expectantly at Sero. He held his hands up, "Don't look at me, I didn't even know you guys met."
The dark haired teacher turned back to Izuku. "What're you doing with my student?"
Izuku's eyes shifted to Sero, regarding him for a long time. He was trying to find the right words. "Training him, actually. He wouldn't even be your student if I hadn't," Izuku said.
Aizawa's nostrils flared in anger as he turned to his sheepish pupil. "You were trained by a villain?! Did you know?"
Sero nodded, but didn't elaborate on how or why. He had already dug himself a hole, no need to make it deeper.
Izuku watched the gears in Aizawa's head turn. He knew what the man was thinking.
"You think he's the traitor, don't you?" Izuku asked, making Sero's eyes widen in fear.
"Sir, I swear-"
"Sero," Aizawa snapped. "Stop talking."
"Careful," Izuku warned.
Aizawa raised a tired brow. "You're awfully protective for a mentor."
A scoff. "Like you wouldn't beat me black and blue where I stood if I so much as flicked one of your students." Izuku taunted.
Of course, with Izuku's quirk, a flick could kill them, but-
"What're you doing, kid?" Aizawa asked, completely disregarding his last statement.
"Well right now, I'm just kinda standing here-"
"I meant what're you doing being a villain," Aizawa snapped. He was exhausted and he knew he'd have mountains of paperwork after this. He really wasn't in the mood for smart ass responses.
Izuku narrowed his eyes at the man. "What'd you mean?"
"You're running around saving my student's lives. You took a lot of risks to do it too. That's not something a villain does. From what I've seen, you're closer to a hero than a villain." Aizawa said bluntly.
Izuku gaped at him like a fish out of water.
"So, I'll ask again. What're you doing being a villain?"
Izuku's mind was whirling. How was he even supposed to answer that? Before he could even start to come up with an answer, there was a screech from above and Izuku was no longer in front of the pro hero.
He was being carried off by a flying nomu.
In a split second decision, Aizawa threw his capture weapon and snagged it on the beast. He was airborne a second later.
Unfortunately, he looked down and realized Iida had latched onto him, being carried off as well.
"What're you doing?" Aizawa yelled down at the boy.
"I couldn't just let you all go by yourselves," Iida explained.
"What'd you-" Aizawa trailed off as he looked to his right. Sero was dangling from his tape in a similar fashion as Aizawa, Todoroki was holding onto his waist.
"Oh for fucks sake!"