"I told you to run."
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For a second Izuku thought it had started raining when he heard the pitter patter of water, thank heavens for that, the fire would be put out or lessened atleast.
A moment later he realised they were the sound of Kota's tears hitting the dry ground.
The fire was still raging.
Villains were still attacking his teachers and classmates.
And poor Kota was looking straight at the person who took his parents away from him.
Couldn't get any worse, right?
Wrong.
Izuku's hip had started to sting from being thrown at the ground and he couldn't check on it to see whether the stitches were alright or not.
He moved so he was standing in front of Kota, shielding him from Muscular. The villain didn't pull the dagger out from his neck and that was something Izuku caught onto immediately.
"Y-you...you killed my mumma and-"
"I've killed a lot of people little boy, gonna have to be specific." Muscular snarled as he activated his quirk, muscle fibres literally wrapping around his arms and chest, ripping the large coat he was wearing.
Kota let out a strained sob at the villain's words and his crying increased. Izuku took a ready stance to protect the kid, according to him the best thing to do was distract Muscular while Kota bolted but he wasn't in the state to listen, the kid was too shocked to do anything more than crying.
"Kota, listen. Listen to me." Izuku firmly said. "I need you to run and hide as soon as I say, you need to leave-"
Muscular threw his fist at Izuku who grabbed Kota and tumbled out of the way but now it was much worse, they were closer to the edge after dodging the hit and farther from the path to camp.
Izuku took a breath and ran at Muscular, leaping into the air and running his second dagger through a bunch of muscle fibres on the villain's shoulder only for more to wrap around the wound.
"Fuck." Izuku landed behind Muscular and ran at him again, pulling out the butterfly knife from where it was hidden.
The truth is, Izuku didn't win against Muscular the last time he encountered him. He tried his best to beat him but in the end Izuku had to run away with a severely bruised back and a close to broken arm.
Muscular thought Izuku fled because of the approaching police cars but it was because he knew he couldn't beat the villain.
He spun the black blade in his hand and ran at Muscular again, aiming for the one real eye on his face to blind him and get some sort of advantage but it only grazed his right eyebrow before Izuku was thrown back in the direction he came from.
Izuku huffed and held his right side, that throw definitely strained the thread keeping his wound closed. It was healing well but not well enough.
Could he make it to Aizawa?
He decided to take the chance and picked up another rock, he threw it at Muscular's face but he dodged. The villain smirked as he turned back to Izuku only to feel a blade slice the right side of his face, grazing his one good eye.
Muscular fell back and screamed as warm blood dripped down his face, stumbling to the mountain side to hold his wound.
Izuku wasted absolutely no time. He grabbed Kota and ran to camp, keeping the little boy's head tucked into his neck and his body as close as it would get to his chest. Weaving through the trees and screaming at the top of his lungs.
"DAD!"
"DAD!"
Izuku saw blue flames as he approached the camp but just as he saw them they disappeared.
"GET BACK HERE JADE!" Muscular screamed and added a few graphic threats, Izuku just tuned it out and ran faster, seeing his dad's silhouette.
"DAD! QUIRK! NOW!" He yelled and swerved to the side when he heard Muscular's heavy footsteps get closer to them, haphazardly ramming into trees with his damaged eyes.
Izuku saw Aizawa turn back but then there was a flurry of blue flames so the aid from his dad was delayed and there was a threat from a second villain. Izuku swore under his breath and used a tree to change directions, launching himself and Kota closer to the camp.
Fuck
The remedial students.
Izuku couldn't change his plan, not when Muscular was right on his tail but what would he do about his classmates.
"JADE!" the villain screeched as he lunged for Izuku. The teen narrowly escaped Muscular as he slid across the forest floor.
As they advanced towards the camp Izuku saw the villain with the blue flames turn into mud...?
Nevermind that, as far as he knew that meant the villain was gone and he could focus on the one barrelling towards him. Dodging him would only work for so long and he was getting out of breath.
As soon as the flame villain was neutralized Aizawa sprinted in Izuku's direction and his eyes shone a bright red.
Izuku heard the heavy footsteps behind him come to an abrupt stop, he smiled and turned back, making sure to keep the villain out of Kota's sight.
There stood Muscular in his de-buffed form with confusion evident in his expression, trying to figure out what happened to his quirk.
Aizawa reached them and Izuku handed Kota over to him, before his father could protest Izuku had already sped off to fight Muscular in his quirkless state.
The villain had collected himself by the time he saw Jade approaching.
Well, "saw" isn't the right word since both his eyes were cut up, he could make out a 5'4 figure running towards him and assumed it was Jade.
He realised he wouldn't be able to rely on his quirk. His vision was all but gone.
Contrary to the villain's state, Izuku was in his element. It was dark and the trees helped in making his movements random and quick. He grinned as he shot toward Muscular.
Izuku leapt into the air and kicked Muscular's neck. The brute stumbled forward, holding the base of his neck as he crouched down. He growled and began lashing out at random, hoping to catch the teen using only his luck but with how the night was going
It was clear that luck was not on his side.
Izuku had noticed the glimmer of metal near Muscular's neck.
The dagger.
If Izuku pulled that out then it'd be pretty simple from there. With major blood loss, Muscular would lose consciousness soon enough since his heart rate must be way above average for needing to pump blood to all those extra muscle that his quirk produced.
That could also mean he has more blood than the average giant.
Either way, blood lost from him was a plus for Izuku so might as well.
Izuku narrowed his eyes and used a tree to launch at villain, his small figure shot towards the near blind villain as he flailed his arms around haphazardly.
Izuku had just reached out when he heard the swish of a cloth in the quiet of the forest, next he felt a familiar fabric wrap around his lower torso, right on his hip.
He was whipped back and slammed into Aizawa painfully.
Izuku shoved off his father angrily and held his hip, he felt something warm and sticky.
"What the hell!? Dad, what are you doing!?" Aizawa didn't look back at Izuku and simply blinked before he dropped eyedrops into his raven colored eyes.
"He was about to land a hit on you." Aizawa said and opened his eyes before Muscular had a handle on his temporarily returned quirk.
"No. He wasn't. " Izuku scoffed and turned back to Muscular. "Just take care of Kota, I'll handle this." Izuku said and started sprinting before he cloth was around his torso and he was pulled back once again.
"Stop doing that!" Izuku yelled and untangled himself from the white cloth but before he could get another word in Aizawa had started attacking Muscular already, pulling his head back by using the remaining capture gear to wrap around his forehead. He pushed a knee into the back of his neck and he was out cold.
Aizawa made a quick job of restraining the villain before he stormed over to Izuku and Kota who was back in Izuku's arms.
"Go back to camp with the kid, I'm going to head towards the fire." Aizawa instructed and it only caused Izuku to scoff.
"I'm going to drop Kota off with Blood dude and head to Mandalay, they're after Kachan and she can let him know." He said and discretely held his hand to his hip.
"Go to camp."
"No."
"Just listen for once in your life!"
"Are you being serious right now?!" Izuku exclaimed and massaged Kota's head when he heard him whimper into his shoulder.
"Yes, I am. Go to camp and stay there. I'm not messing around Izuku."
"Do me a fucking favor and be rational." Izuku spat. "Multiple students are at risk, maybe prioritize the other 40 kids instead of me since I can very clearly take care of myself."
He turned on his heel and walked towards the camp to drop Kota off with Vlad king. He walked briskly with the little boy's body clung to his own.
"Are you okay?" Kota asked in a whisper and Izuku looked down with the best smile he could muster. "I'm fine kid, sorry you had to see me like that. I told you he was overprotective, didn't I?" Izuku joked earning a small smile from Kota.
"I thought you were kidding about that." Kota replied and tucked his head back into Izuku's shoulder. Izuku felt a rush of happiness at the little action and he briefly forgot about his argument with his dad.
Briefly.
Once they reached the camp Izuku walked into the remedial classroom and set Kota down on one of the desks before turning only to find the door closed with the click of the lock sounding through the small room.
Izuku scoffed and just left through the window, ignoring the shocked looks that the students gave him. Jogging in the direction of the fire and weaving throught the trees and bushes.
He heard the swish of fabric once again and just about threw a tree at his dad with how angry he was.
He stopped and stepped to the side to see the white cloth move in the direction he was once going in.
"If you don't stop that then-"
"Go back to camp right now!" Aizawa yelled, his voice heavy with emotion.
"No." Izuku simply said and began walking away.
"I'm your superior-"
"And you're trying to stop me from helping during a blatantly obvious crisis!" Aizawa hesitated as Izuku stepped towards him. "The fact that I'm your son doesn't change the fact that people could be dying right now!" Izuku desperately tried to reason but he wouldn't budge.
"Dad, they could take Kachan!"
"They could take you."
Izuku sighed, understanding where his father was coming from but he needed to be reasonable.
"Listen."
"No, you listen to me."
Aizawa spoke with the conviction of a terrified father. "You are a child. You're a kid, you're my kid. And you will not be put in harm's way on my account. It's my job to keep you safe and I can't do that if you won't fucking listen to me. You are my priority." Aizawa ground his teeth as he continued, ignoring the tick in Izuku's jaw.
"I don't care if I'm being selfish, you're my son and I will do what it takes to keep you safe. I may be new to this while parenting thing but I know that you're the most important thing in my life."
Izuku didn't know if he was consciously doing it but Aizawa's hair was subtly floating.
"I may be selfish andI may be an awful hero and a terrible teacher but I'm still your father. And I reserve the right to prioritize you."
"But I can help."
"And I don't give a damn, get back to camp. Now, Izuku." His father seethed but Izuku refused to back down.
"I'm helping. Whether you're on board or not doesn't matter to me. You're biased and you aren't thinking straight. Do you know how risky that shit you pulled with Muscular was because I don't think you realised that we were dealing with a Class-S villain."
Izuku clenched his fists. "You're being irrational and I'm not going to sit back when I can help these people. I'm perfectly qualified to fight and I don't need your permission no matter how much you've convinced yourself that I do."
"Consider this my rebellious phase."