Unknown Number:
I need your help.
Izuku:
Who is this?
Unknown:
A friend...or at least someone who wants to be
Izuku:
I'm going to need more than that
Unknown:
Let's just say that I'm still pissed at you for outing me to my brother
Izuku:
You son of a-
Dabi:
Yeah, yeah, I know. Now listen. The League is still alive and Shigaraki is calling the shots now that his master is gone.
Izuku:
Okay...and what does that have to do with me?
Dabi:
Wow.
And here I thought you were a hero...
Izuku:
I'm not a hero.
Dabi:
Touchy, touchy...jeez, okay.
Anyway, remember how we were working with the Shie Hisaaki for a minute?
Izuku:
Vaguely.
It's kinda hard to pay attention to that kind of stuff when you're being tortured
Dabi:
Okay, okay, but I wasn't a part of that btw. I was the one who had to babysit and keep your little friends alive.
Izuku:
The Shie Hisaaki?
Dabi:
Right. Anyway, they're still here, but there's a problem...
Izuku:
And why should I care? You guys kidnapped me and my friends, tortured me, killed me over and over again, and then tried to kill me after stealing my quirk. Not exactly bestie vibes if you know what I mean.
Dabi:
Okay...fair. But again, that wasn't me.
Anyway, the problem is that they have a child here.
Izuku:
A child?
Dabi:
A little girl
Izuku:
Why would they have a child with them?
Dabi:
They're using her. They're hurting her and using her to make this serum or something...I don't know, all I know is that they're hurting her, and I can't do anything about it
Izuku:
Not to sound like a dick, but why do you care? Aren't you supposed to be a villain?
Dabi:
I'm not a monster. I just want to get back at my dad, but this is an innocent child...
And I remember being her. I remember being so small and weak and being used like an object by those who were supposed to love and protect me.
I can't watch them do that to her.
Izuku:
Then why don't you stop them?
Dabi:
I can't.
That's why I'm asking you.
Izuku:
I'm kinda in the hospital healing from your boss almost killing me atm
Dabi:
I know but
Please. Please, I need your help, I can't keep watching as they hurt this little girl. I can hear her crying at night when she thinks that no one's around and...
And it's heartbreaking
Izuku didn't know what to do.
If what Dabi was saying was true, they the League and Shie Hisaaki had an innocent child and were torturing her for their own gain.
...He knew that he was hurt. He knew that he had almost died and that he was lucky to be alive right now, but he also knew that he was the only person who could do something to help her.
And if he just sat back...no, he couldn't do that. He couldn't just do nothing when he knew that there was a child out there going through the same, if not worse, thing he did. Not when he knew that he could help her. And wasn't that why he had wanted to be a hero in the first place? To help people...
He had to help.
Izuku:
Okay.
Send me the address. I'll be there by midnight tonight.
Eraser was starting to get on Izuku's nerves.
He had called the hero after his conversation with Dabi letting him know that he was awake and ever since, he hadn't taken his eyes off the boy.
It was almost like he could sense that he was going to do something stupid...
Actually, he probably could, to be honest.
"How are you feeling?"
Eraser sat in one of the chairs on the side of Izuku's bed, he had a book in his hand and was sat back with his ankle resting on his knee.
Izuku let out a sigh, "I wish you would stop asking that."
"Can I not worry about your health?"
"You can, but you're acting like a helicopter parent."
Eraser shot up, his legs bracing to get up even though he stayed seated, "I am not!" He relaxed back after glaring at Izuku's snickering form. "I hate you."
"I love you too...dad." Izuku raised a teasing eyebrow that earned one of the hero's famous eyerolls. "Oh come on, you've got to admit that it's funny."
"It's weird is what it is."
"Eh, that too."
Eraser let out a sigh and closed his book before leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. "I'm just glad you're okay."
"Me too..."
"If me asking questions is bothering you, then I'll stop."
"No, it's fine, I just wish you wouldn't treat me like I'm made of glass. I'm still the same problem child I was before."
"Except now you're one-hundred percent less likely to come back if you get in a mood and decide to jump out of the window."
Izuku let out a scoff as he laid his head back and looked up at the plain ceiling. "That's true, but I promised to stay alive, remember?"
"Promises can be broken..."
The boy glanced back at the hero who was staring at the ground and avoiding his eyes. "Hey," He called out causing Eraser to look at him, "I'm okay. I'm not going anywhere, alright?"
"Right...sorry."
Izuku smiled softly at the hero, but inside he internally grimaced. He wished that he didn't have to lie to the guy, but he knew that he would never let him do it if he knew. It hurt to look Eraser in his tired eyes that looked on the verge of breaking and tell him something that he knew wasn't true.
How was he going to sit there and promise to stay alive when in just a few hours he was going to be sneaking into the League's new headcounters to save a child that he wasn't completely sure was even there.
For all he knew, Dabi could be lying to him and be trying to lead him into an ambush so they could finish what AFO started.
It was a stupid risk to take with the probability it was a lie being so high, but he had to. If there was even the slightest chance that Dabi was telling the truth and there really was a little girl there, he had to try.
He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't.
He just couldn't tell anyone. Not even Toshi. The boy knew that something was up as soon as he saw him, but let it slide after Izuku begged him to drop it. It tore him apart to lie to the people he loved and betray their trust, but there was no other way.
The heroes couldn't take another fight. Too many were hurt and out of commission due to Kamino Ward and everyone was still mourning the loss of the Symbol of Peace. If he told Eraser, he'd try to do things the legal way and then they'd have even less of a chance of saving that child and more people would get hurt.
He had to do this, and he had to do it alone.
It was funny. Just when he finally accepted the people who loved him and agreed to live for them was when he had to put all of that to the side and run into a situation that he knew would kill him. He just hoped that they didn't hate him too much for what he was about to do.
He had to believe that they would get over his death and continue to live their lives. Hitoshi would take a while, but he'd be fine sooner or later. He was in 1-A now and was on his way to being the hero Izuku always knew he would be, and he even had some friends. He'd be okay...eventually.
Eraser would take it hard. He would blame himself and tear himself apart with what ifs, and he had to believe that Mic, Joke, and Tsuki would be able to bring him out of that dark place. He would have to know that there was nothing he could've done to stop Izuku. Maybe he should leave him a note...yeah, that'd probably help. He'd just have to write it when he wasn't looking.
He should actually probably leave a few notes, just to put some minds at ease.
Wow...didn't this feel familiar.
Only this time, he really and truly wanted to live. Izuku wanted to stay with the people he had somehow gained by no power of his and live happily, growing and laughing with them. He wanted to continue living with Eraser and slowly figure out just what their relationship was. He wanted to stay with Hitoshi and continue to remind him that he was not a monster, that he was going to be a great hero-the best hero. He wanted to keep laughing and making fun of Eraser with Mic and he wanted to continue to annoy Tsuki every time he went to the station. He wanted to see Denki to the end and watch as he used his quirk to help people without hurting himself. He wanted to watch Katsuki grow into the person he was trying to be, and who knew, maybe one day they would've mended things and become friends again.
Too bad all of that probably wouldn't happen. Not now...
Eraser left after another few hours and told Izuku that he needed to go to sleep and rest or he'd be back to annoy him until he did. Izuku nodded and shot a teasing comment at the hero as he shut the hospital room door and as soon as it closed, Izuku's face fell.
It was time.