Izuku, dressed in his girl outfit, sat at the counter and furiously typed at the keyboard.
Their cafe suddenly had an increase of customers lately, one of their coffee machines broke, and to add to that, one of their workers quit the job.
In other words, they were in a crisis.
"Izumi! I need you at the coffee machines - the newbies can't turn it on!"
Izuku wanted to scream.
Right, there another thing. The newbie that has just joined had absolutely no time management skills, so instead of helping, the girl is literally just in the way.
Not to mention the fact that she didn't even know how coffee machines work. She was just hired because she's the daughter of the company owner.
And that annoys the hell outta Izuku.
He pulled on a warm smile. "Of course! I'll be there in a sec." He called out, increasing his typing speed. He had to finish his English assessment because that is due in...... 2 minutes and 46 seconds.
And Present Mic is scary when he's angry.
After Izuku finally hit enter and submitted his essay, he didn't even have time to catch his breath as he heard a loud bang from the coffee machine room, and immediately jumped to his feet.
No way. Did the newbie break another one?
"Well you seem overly exhausted today."
Izuku grumbled, turning over in the bed to face his back to his brother.
"Shut up."
Asahi sighed. "It can't be that bad, right? Did something happen at school? Or at work?"
Izuku was quite for a while, contemplating if to tell Asahi or not, but eventually he decided to fuck it.
"There's an increase in customers at the cafe at work at, one of the professionals left, we have two broken coffee machines and a newbie that just ruins everything because she has no skills whatsoever." He paused, suddenly remembering something else, and released an even more painful groan. "And the internships are coming up."
Asahi cracked a smile. "Wow. I'm guessing the girl is the daughter of someone important, and that's why nobody can fire her?" He tilted his head in question, knowing full well that he got it right.
"You and your stupidly smart brain..." Izuku grumbled.
Asahi smirked. "I saw you coming from work today. That tu-tu looks great on you by the way."
Izukus head shot up from his pillow and Asahi only managed to dodge his upcoming punch because of how tired Izuku was.
The younger boy laughed as he ran away and out of the room.
At the door way he paused and looked back with a smile.
"Get some rest, bro." Then he closed the door and Izuku closed his eyes.
To be honest, he hasn't slept well for the past few nights because of an increase of criminal activity on the streets, and also... also because of that message from Dabi that he can't seem to decode no matter how hard he tries.
Who the fuck is the "red ribbon" and what is he plotting?
And why does Izuku need to care?
"Nightmist."
"Erasurehead."
To be honest, these meetings that they had each Tuesday and Friday as per the previously made agreement, were really getting on Izukus nerves. He had to constantly change his schedule for those days and explain to different people why he couldn't do anything at that time.
And to point out, these "people" were sometimes, most of the time, the unfriendly type.
But todays meeting especially got Izuku on edge since the pro hero brought papers with him.
And that couldn't be a good sign.
He decided to not beat around the bush today, mainly because he had work to do at the base, but also because he was just not in the mood for lectures and stuff like that.
"What's that?" He pointed to the folder under Aizawas arm with a nonchalant face.
Aizawa glanced at his folder then slowly looked back at Izuku. He gave the folder a pat and sighed.
"This is something I want to discuss today. With you."
Izuku smiled slightly. "Yeah, no shit. Otherwise you wouldn't have brought it here."
Aizawa cleared his throat. "That's no way to-"
"Erasurehead, I am a criminal right now, and as far as I know, criminals don't usually speak formally to heroes that want to put them in jail." He pulled on a fake smile. "Sorry, but I'm not in the mood today to do anything. I'm kinda pissed off at something."
It was quiet after that, as Aizawa thought about what the boy had said.
Hizashi said to be calm and patient. That the kid has a bad temper. Calm down, Erasurehead.
Present Mic, just before Aizawa left for his patrol with the folder under his arm, had told him that the best way to talk with teenagers like Midoriya, was by being calm and serious, as well as accepting.
Aizawa understood as soon as the vigilante landed on the rooftop that he had had a bad day. He knew that the kid probably wouldn't like what he was going to tell him right now, but it was urgent, as the applications were due tomorrow.
"It's urgent." He stated, staring at the roof beneath them.
Izuku hummed. "Is it something related to UA? Because you only use that folder for school stuff."
Shota nodded. "Yes, and we need to discuss it now, coz it's due tomorrow."
Izuku stayed silent as he generated all the possible things that that could be, and when he finally got it he released an exasperated sigh of surrender and plopped down next to the hero with a thud.
"Is it the internships?"
"Good job Mr Smarty Pants."
Izuku deadpanned and turned to Aizawa with a "are you fucking serious" look on his face.
The man cracked a smile.
"Joking. But yes, it's about the internships."
Izuku nodded. "Go on then. Just don't make this drag on forever."
Aizawa shrugged. "That's up to you."
"Are you aware of the recruitment letter that you received?"
Izuku raised an eyebrow. "Nup. Someone wants me?" He was genuinely curious.
Aizawa hesitated. "Well.. yeah, but I'm afraid you won't like it."
Izuku huffed with a smirk. "I don't like many things."
"But this one is... different."
Izuku could tell the man was trying to approach this slowly and carefully as to not get Izuku angry, but that was pissing Izuku off even more.
"Just say it already. I got shit to do."
Aizawa gave up.
Sorry Yama, at least I tried.
"Do you know All Mights past mentor - Gran Torino?"
The night breeze, that was actually pretty fucking cold, gently ruffled Izuku hood and Aizawas long hair. They sat in silence as they both waited for the younger to process the information.
Yes, Izuku was waiting too. For his own brain.
Gran... Torino? That sounds familiar... Where... who is he? All Mights previous mentor... wasnt that Nana Shimuri though? She and this man called Torino were All Mights trainers when he-
Wait.
Izuku is fucking dumb isn't he.
His head snapped to the hero as soon as he remembered the old man.
"Gran?! He wants to train me?!" Izuku exclaimed, facing Aizawa fully.
He couldn't believe it.
"You're... not pissed?"
Izuku grinned and jumped up excitedly. "Of course not! Gran isn't All Might - he's amazing! He fought along side Nana Shimura back then, helped her train Yagi, and- and he was just- just amazing!"
No matter how good Izuku's Japanese was, he was struggling to come up with words at the moment.
The excitement was bubbling inside him.
Aizawa let out an exasperated and relieved sigh.
"Thank goodness..."
Izuku looked down at him. "Did you say something sir?"
The man shook his head. "No. Just glad that you liked your only offer. Otherwise you would've been stuck with me and I don't want that at all."
Izuku pouted. "That's mean. And besides, I didn't get much offers because people are dumb."
Aizawa shrugged. "Who knows."
Izuku ignored that and sat down again.
"I... also had something to say. Two things, actually." He stated, and that immediately got Shotas attention.
"Spill it then."
Izuku took a deep breath, fiddling around with the zipper on his black jacket.
He had to say this, but the consequences that may happen after he does kept his mouth shut.
After another minute of silence Aizawa couldn't take it anymore and sighed.
"You told me you had a lot of work to do, and yet you waste time yourself? Just say it if you want to. I'm here to help and to listen."
"Ew."
"Shut the fuck up. Zashi told me to say that."
Izuku shook his head.
"It's... it's about my name."
Aizawa paused, trying to remember what they promised to do about that, and slowly nodded once he did.
"You said you didn't want your friend at school finding out your identity through us, right? So we gave you some time to reveal it to him yourself."
Izuku nodded, staring down at his lap.
"So?"
Izuku sighed. "I told him. He knows now and everything's fine, but..."
"So can we change the document now? To your actual name?"
"But I don't want you to!" Izuku said, lifting his head to look at the man.
Aizawa was surprised at the sudden increase in volume but quickly calmed down.
"Why?"
And that made Izuku go quiet again.
Why didn't he want them to reveal to the whole school that his name is actually Izuku Midoriya?
Well, because there were bad people from his past hunting him down.
There were the bad memories associated with that name.
There was his brother who had the same last name as him, which could lead to revealing their relationship to unwanted people.
There was the fact that everyone who knows Izukus real name - criminals or heroes, bad or good, would now know his everyday location, which would put everyone at school in even more danger.
Izuku could go on and on.
But most importantly, there was his father.
Whom hasn't seen in so long that he practically forgot what he looked like. Who left him and didn't want anything to do with him anymore.
So if suddenly, a boy pops up in a school and reveals that his name as Izuku Midoriya, some people might make a connection.
Like Tsukauchi.
And of course there's always that small, tiny possibility that his father will want him back.
Though Izuku doubts that.
Even if he will, he'll just change his name and run away again.
But he couldn't tell Aizawa all this.
"Nightmist?"
It felt weird when Aizawa called him by his vigilante name on patrol.
"I just- I.. I can't..." Izuku managed to say.
Aizawa sighed but didn't say anything. He leant back and looked up at the sky, as Izuku calmed down in the silence.
"It's... complicated. The reveal of.. of my real name will lead to too much consequences and drama."
And will put every single person I know in danger.
Aizawa didn't like the underlying message in that phrase, but left it at that. He stood up with a sigh, signifying that this meeting was now over, and spoke up.
"Okay. You go figure your stuff out, and tell us when you're ready, but please, do speak to me or Hizashi if something happens. Don't forget the panic button on your phone, okay? We're your teachers, and also pro heroes, and we're supposed to help anyone in need. Don't forget that, idiot."
Aizawa reached over and gently placed his rough hand on Izuku head.
The boy flinched that the contact but let the firm hand stay there.
It felt nice.
"Okay."
"Izuku!"
"Izuku?"
"IZUKU!!! YOUR'E FUCKING BLEEDING!!"
"Shut the fuck up! I wanna sleep!" Izuku finally gave up and sat up, staring down at Riku who had the audacity to wake him up in the middle of the nig- should he say morning? It was 4 am so probably.
"But you're bleeding!" He gasped, running to the first aid kit and starting to unpack it.
Izuku groaned. "Well duh, I just got back from patrol. I'll take care of it tomorrow."
He slowly started laying back down and closing his eyes, when Riku suddenly pulled him upright again.
"I'm treating you now and that's final! I also... have something to tell you."
Izuku sighed. Couldn't this wait till tomorrow? He needs at least these three hours of sleep.
"Fine. Just be quick, I wanna sleep." He mumbled, trying his hardest to keep his eyes opened. "What is it?"
Riku, with an anti-bacterial wipe, started wiping Izukus deep cut on the inside of his arm that he got from fighting a dude who owned an illegal weaponry just an hour ago, but Izuku didn't even flinch because of how tired he was.
"Master wants me back."
Izuku froze, now officially wide awake.
"Sorry?"
Riku sighed. "I said, my Master wants me to come back. He said that I have trained enough and that he needs me back home."
Izuku blinked. Suddenly this wiping was becoming more painful.
"Ouch! What the fuck?!" He shouted, partly from the pain on his arm, but also because of what Riku said.
Why... so random?
"Why.. why now?" Izuku asked.
"I don't know.. I honestly think I'm not ready yet. But Master wants me back."
"What's wrong with him?"
"I don't know, but Master said he-"
"For fucks sake, stop calling him Master!" Izuku yelled, breathing heavily.
Riku flinched and looked down, fighting back his tears.
Izuku immediately realised what he did.
"Sorry... I- Im just pissed at a lot of things right now. This was just the cherry on top. Sorry, I didn't mean to yell... oh please don't cry.." Izuku wrapped his arm around Riku and brought him closer to his chest as the boy cried.
"I- I don't want you to be mad.." he sobbed, and Izukus heart clenched.
Vigilante rule number one - don't get too attached to anyone.
Izuku gritted his teeth.
"It's okay, I'm not mad. I was just shocked at the sudden news.." he pat Rikus back and tried his best to stop the boys crying.
"Sorry... but I really need to go back home Izuku... I'm sorry.."
Izuku squeezed his eyes to stop the tears and then opened them again.
"It's fine, Riku. Don't cry."
Riku looked up at Izuku with his bright blue eyes and wiped his tears.
"I won't, I'm sorry."
"It's okay."
They sat like that, hugging for what seemed like ages (mostly because Izuku was half asleep). Izuku remembered the first time he met Riku - the quiet, scared and helpless kid that he thought was a criminal who was threatening his brother. He remembered how they trained together, how quickly the boy improved, and how proud he felt.
He remembered the time when he and Asahi were kidnapped, how worried, scared and relieved he was when they finally rescued them.
And of course he remembered their patrol together.
Izuku remembered every single thing that they went through together, and when he did his heart squeezed even more.
He couldn't believe that Riku was leaving so soon.
"So... what time are you leaving?"
Riku leaned out of the hug and stared down at his lap.
"Tomorrow morning. He said he'll pick me up at 5 am."
Izuku gasped. "What the fuck, that's in like.. 40 minutes!"
Riku nodded. "That's why I woke you up."
Izuku gave up. There was no choice - Riku was leaving in 40 minutes and that's it.
"Have you got your things ready?" He asked, and was surprised when Riku shook his head.
"No.. I wanted to tell you first."
Izuku smiled softly. "Alright then. Go get ready and I'll wake Asahi up."
Riku turned to him. "Can you wake Stain up as well? I want to see him one more time before I leave too."
Izuku nodded.
"Okay."
The time came way too fast.
It always does when something dreadful is about to happen, and you don't want it to, but this time Izuku thought that the 40 minutes went by in a second.
Riku, right in front of him, was already getting into a black car and waving goodbye to the three of them.
It was all going by too fast.
"Thank you for everything, Izuku sir! You were the best person I could ever wish for to be my mentor! I improved so much because of you." Riku yelled, practically pushing away the guard that was trying to get him into the car.
Izuku smiled.
This part hurt him the most.
"You're most welcome, kid. I hope you improve even more later on!"
Riki saluted. "Yessir!"
And that was it.
Then he turned to his best friend.
"Ash don't cry please, you're gonna make me cry!" He said, a tear rolling down his cheek as he did so.
Asahi couldn't stop the tears but he smiled. "I can't. I don't want you to leave.."
Riku smiled. "I have to go home, Ash, you know that.."
Asahi nodded. "I know.. I'll miss you."
At that Riku broke down too.
"I-I'll miss you t-too." He cried out, and the guard next to him stepped back in awkwardness.
Not everybody knows what to do with a crying 8 year old in this situation.
The boy faced Stain. "Stain, sir, you h-helped me a lot too. Th-thank you.." He hiccuped.
Stain nodded. "Bye."
Izuku winced at the bluntness of the reply.
Heturned to him with a shocked face. "Stain? What's wrong with you?"
Stain shrugged. "Nothing."
Izuku was stunned. Did the man... not feel anything? Anything at all? This.. wasn't like him.
"O-okay..." Riku also seemed shocked.
No surprise there though.
"Stain isn't good with emotional interactions, ignore him." Izuku smiled, waving to Riku as the guard resumed his attempts in pushing the boy into the car.
"Sir, we really need to leave now. We're behind schedule by 13 minutes now." The guard tried to reason.
Izuku noticed and chuckled. "Riku, you need to leave now."
Riku sighed. "Yeah... bye Izuku."
Izuku nodded. "Bye kid. Don't forget the things Stain and I taught you. You were an amazing student."
The boy laughed. "Of course I won't! Bye Asahi!"
Asahi sniffed. "Bye Riku! Please remember me!"
Riku held up his wrist where Izuku noticed a small and simple bracelet. Asahi held his wrist up too where the same bracelet was.
Izuku smiled.
"Never! We're best friend forever and ever!" Riku yelled through his window as the guard closed the door and Asahi grinned.
"And ever!"
Riku smirked. "And ever!"
"And ever!" Asahi yelled again as he started running after the black car.
"And ever!!" Riku yelled back as well.
"And ever!!!" Asahi shouted and slowed down when the car sped up too much for him to run after it.
"And ever..." Riku whispered, pressing the bracelet to his chest.
I'll miss you guys... a whole fucking lot.
Izuku turned around to face Stain.
"Are you even the least bit sad? You loved him so much!"
Stain huffed. "Not at all."
Izuku was taken aback.
What.. what?
"Stain! What the hell?" Izuku called after him as the man turned around. "What's up with you?!"
Asahi watched from the side as Stain took off his beanie and shook his hair free.
He had a bad feeling about this.
"Nothing. I'm just showing you my true self."
Izuku froze.
His eyes widened in fear and his pupils dilated.
"Your friend found out about the red ribbon."
Izuku took a step back as he felt his hands start to shake.
"And knows the next meeting place, so he told me to invite you there."
Izuku backed away even more until his back touched the brick wall of the building behind him.
"Don't tell the red ribbon though."
Izuku heard his brother yell out to him in worry, but he didn't hear what he said.
Everything was getting blurry and confusing.
Everything was spinning as Izuku finally understood Dabis strange message.
Everything finally fell into place.
"It's going to be a surprise - he can't know."
The red ribbon swayed in Stains ponytail, wild and free, dangerous and mystic.