Tooru adjusted the tripod with hesitation. Today's recording was going to be rough, she could tell. After setting a timer on her satellite phone Hagakure got into position in front of it and took a deep breath and lightly slapped her cheeks a few times. Then she heard a click.
"Hey guys, it's me again. Uh, you could say a lot's happened since the last recording."
A moment of pause followed.
"We thought we finally got our big break we were looking for but it ended up being a dud in the end. It's been really eating away at Izuku."
The thought of how much it was affecting her boyfriend caused Tooru to lose track of what to say but she quickly shook it off and continued.
"I guess I should provide some context first. Hawks had already warned Izuku prior to us leaving that All For One or Shigaraki wasn't in the condition to forcefully steal One For All yet and might send villains to capture Izuku alive. Last night one of them attacked, Lady Nagant, who apparently was a former hero gone rogue and was Hawks' predecessor at the Hero Public Safety Commission. Izuku defeated her and Hawks was able to get a location from her but she had been rigged by All For One to explode upon failing her mission. Lady Nagant is alive but is in critical condition at the moment."
Hagakure recalled seeing the assassin being carted away just as she and Prime arrived on the scene. She thought she was seeing a charred corpse at first until told otherwise.
"The location given was Haibori Forest. Izuku and a bunch of pros went there some hours later but it was a decoy set to explode. They all made it out okay but it was a dead end. So yeah, morale isn't the best at the moment but I figured I would let you all know. We'll work hard so the next message I give has some progress!"
Tooru then walked over and turned off the recording before letting out a long sigh. Well, that was blunt and short, she thought to herself. This was the third recording she had sent back to U.A. with the plan Mei had developed. Hagakure had winged the last two and they turned out fine in her view, there was a lot to talk about. But today? She couldn't bring herself to really get into the meat of things and talk about anything else.
The door then opened, revealing Hatsume. "You finished? I stopped hearing voices inside."
Tooru took her phone off the tripod and handed it to her friend before saying, "Yeah it's done."
"That was fast."
"I only went over the last day, that's all I can do right now."
"Oh, uh sorry..."
Hagakure put a hand on Hatsume's shoulder and said, "No need to apologize, I'm just being a downer at the moment." Shen then asked, "So what's all that racket I'm hearing outside?"
Mei then dragged her friend outside the room as she explained, "Oh Midoriya-kun is using Baby Prime to train!"
They were inside another warehouse, this one was a lot larger than the previous few they had stayed at. Tooru was still surprised how quickly her boyfriend and new mechanical friend were zipping back and forth throughout the building, avoiding the supports. Suddenly a burst came from Izuku and struck Prime on the right arm, who only laughed.
"Come on boy, that was way weaker than before," the bot shouted.
Midoriya stopped and grunted. "I didn't use it with One For All that time. Ran out of juice."
Prime rolled over and asked, "Over already?"
"I already told you this exercise was just to try out Fa Jin a bit more before we go out on patrol," Izuku explained while readjusting his gloves.
Tooru recalled her boyfriend explaining that he had unlocked the quirk with his battle with Lady Nagant. It stored kinetic energy as he fought and moved. It then could be released in short bursts to boost both his power and speed. Giving him basically 100% One For All levels of power briefly with no draw back to his body.
The bot crossed its arms and looked away as it stated, "I would prefer a real fight."
Hatsume then said, "You know now is not the time for that."
"Sorry ma'am," Prime stated while lowering his head.
Mei then said in a low tone only Tooru could hear, "Even if such a test of skill would be invaluable for my research."
Hagakure shook her head but didn't say anything. At least Hatsume is trying, she thought.
"I want to leave in ten minutes," Midoriya said as he walked by the girls.
"Right," Tooru stated before sighing. She was hoping he would sleep more. He did nap as All Might drove him back to their current hideout but it wasn't enough in her eyes. Hagakure slept after the incident, thinking they wouldn't have attempted going to Haibori Forest until later. In the end, it was probably for the best she didn't go, she figured. Either way Tooru was feeling like she was lacking in sleep too. Only a few hours as Izuku and the others investigated the false lead. Once he returned and learned what happened, she tried to calm her boyfriend down but he could only blame himself for everything that was happening. Midoriya wanted to immediately go out to patrol again but Hagakure insisted he at least eat, to which he thankfully agreed. She then used the time to shower and decided to record a message to her friends after bathing.
"Well, I guess I should get back to work on old Hercules here."
"I would appreciate that," All Might stated as he stepped out of said vehicle.
Tooru asked, "Is everything okay sensei?"
"Was just locating the maintenance and repair manual for Hatsume-san. She's gonna need it to fix this thing up."
Mei brought down her goggles and adjusted them as she said, "Well the outside looks doable on my own but yeah that will be helpful if I need to spruce up any of the electronics on your dash. Though I don't think I can repair windshields that thick with what I got here."
Hagakure looked over the damage. It was mostly on the right side of the vehicle. Yagi had been attacked almost simultaneously as Midoriya had, a surprise grenade by two assassins assisting Lady Nagant. Despite having to leave the vehicle, All Might still fought them off and was fine if a bit shaken up.
"I'll make a call then to get some replacements moved to our next location then." The former pro hero then left as he started to talk to someone on his phone.
Mei then said, "Oh I almost forgot." She ran over to her workbench and handed Tooru a Mid Gauntlet for the left hand.
"You already made a new one?" During Izuku's last battle, it had been shot off and was completely destroyed along with his Air Force Glove on that arm.
"With The Fixer's schematics in hand, it only took a few hours. Though I won't have the Air Force Gloves ready until you guys return. I figured Midoriya-kun would rather have this baby back first though."
"I think he'll agree. Thanks."
Mei nodded before walking back to Hercules.
Tooru took a deep breath and walked over to Izuku's cot. He was sitting on it and drinking a bottle of water. She stopped behind him and held out the device and said, "Hatsume-chan fixed your gauntlet."
Midoriya turned slowly. A tired gaze looked to the tool but then to Hagakure. He then got up and turned around. After putting his water down, Izuku said, "Thank you." He then took the Mid Gauntlet and put it on his left arm after discarding what remained of the previous one. The boy looked back at Tooru and asked, "You don't have to patrol with me today if you don't want to."
"If anyone should be taking a break it's you, Izuku."
"You know I can't."
"Then I can't either."
"...Right." The boy sighed before saying, "You should go suit up. I'll see you in a few minutes."
Hagakure didn't want to make the situation any less awkward and left without saying more on the matter. Today was going to be another long day she could tell.
Prime grumbled, "We're late."
"Well, considering this is the first one we missed today, I think we're doing good," Tooru stated.
Prime just groaned and said, "Well, the coast is clear. Nothing else nearby on the radar." It then let the girl down next to a power line pole with three villains tied to it. She then decloaked and was happy to see they were all soundly unconscious.
"Why are they still here? I thought the big-shot heroes were our clean-up crew? They shouldn't be this far behind." The bot looked skyward before saying, "And they don't have the excuse of bad weather today like last time."
Hagakure figured he meant why Endeavor and Hawks were slow in assisting Midoriya against Lady Nagant. The torrential rain hindered them both. Either way, she couldn't argue his statement but had nothing to add. So she instead tried to refocus on why they were in this situation in the first place. "Well, we wouldn't be so late if you didn't stop and try and argue with that dog."
"Then it should have stopped barking at me. How else am I supposed to react to such a display of aggression?"
"It was a terrier. They are ultra-small. They are the opposite of being a threat."
"That's not the point. It should be thankful we stopped it from being crushed during our battle. That last pooch we helped was a lot calmer."
The two had dropped on two gangs fighting over turf while en route to meet up with Izuku, which was leveling the street as the chaos ensued. Prime took out the big targets, and Tooru knocked out those with weapons. The former had saved the terrier from being crushed by a car, though it still barked in frustration even after everything had been dealt with. As police arrived to cart off the gang members, Prime was puzzled by the dog's behavior. The gang brawl already set them back, and now this. However, it's not like she could force the bot to back down.
Hagakure shrugged before saying, "It never left that spot. Maybe its owners were inside that nearby apartment complex."
"So it was trying to protect them? Though it's not like it could do anything."
"You would be surprised at the length dogs will go for their owners despite the odds."
"Not too different from you humans, then."
"Well, for even total strangers, but that's what heroes do."
Prime seemed to contemplate that statement and stayed silent. Tooru bent down to get a better look at the three tied up prisoners. All mutants. She pondered why this was becoming a reoccurring theme but turned her thoughts to what to do next instead. An idea then came, they could take a detour and hand them over to the local precinct. Hagakure took out her phone to look up the nearest police station. However, before she could look up directions, a loud noise in the air caught her attention.
"About time," Prime stated.
In a flurry of fire, Endeavor landed between the girl and the machine. As he stood up, he looked at Prime with a concerned look.
Tooru quickly ran over and said, "Uh, he's with me, sir."
"Yes, your teacher did say there were others with the boy. Just didn't expect this kind of hardware." The man looked down at the girl and asked, "Those goons out?" The girl nodded. "Why are you two back here? You should be with Deku."
Prime then rolled to the pro hero's side. "We should be asking you why you are so late. You are supposed to be our shadow, are you not?"
A voice from above proclaimed, "Things have changed." The group looked up to find Hawks hopping off of a nearby lamp post.
The number one hero sighed. "You should have taken the car with Best Jeanist, and your wings can barely fly as is."
"Hey, I kept up with you, didn't I? I can still jump from building to building with them. Besides, my ride had to assist a local shelter call, so I split off as he could handle it on his own."
"You only got here after me because I was dealing with a robbery on the other side of town while you came straight here."
"Semantics." Hawks shrugged to Endeavor's annoyance. "Anyways, we're trying to stay a few more kilometers away from Deku-kun for his own good."
Hagakure, in a confused tone asked, "Even after what happened last night?"
Hawks answered while leaning against Prime. "Especially because of last night. Even before Nagant-senpai's attack, we were considering backing off. Your boyfriend is dealing well enough with all these agents of All For One roaming around, and he doesn't need the public against him."
"How!? How would they know?" This didn't make any sense to Tooru.
The winged hero sighed, "I'm curious about it too. I thought we had a tight lid on what was happening until yesterday."
Endeavor knelt and cuffed the mutants as he explained, "Not long before Lady Nagant attacked Deku, after arresting conspirators of Jailbreaker, I was approached by a mob of civilians that said I was hiding someone that All For One was searching for. Perhaps we were following too close to Deku, and because of that people were starting to notice something. Though we also think information is slowly being leaked from pros retiring by the day." Endeavor rubbed his temple with his right hand. "If the masses truly find out what's going on, the burden will fall squarely on Deku's shoulders. That should be my weight to carry, not his. He's suffering enough as is."
"Then that means we should triple our efforts then," Prime stated as he wheeled next to Tooru and offered a hand.
Hagakure nodded but, before climbing on, asked, "So what's the plan now for getting information on Shigaraki's location? Is there any hope if all his agents are rigged to explode like Lady Nagant?" All Might and Midoriya hadn't said anything about changing their plan, so she hoped the top heroes had some idea about what was happening.
Hawk answered with reluctance, "It's probably only those he personally entrusts to seek out Deku that are set up like Nagant-senpai was. We'll have to hope those lower on the totem pole might slip up, though the chances they are in the know are low."
Endeavor untied the villains and picked up two with his right arm and the last with his left. "I'm meeting with a couple of pros tonight to address that. Though, to be honest, at this rate, I feel our hope lies with the international response. If they come, our numbers will greatly increase, and we can widen as well as hasten the search. Things are looking like our allied countries should be making a move in the coming weeks. We just have to hold out until then, I feel."
Tooru let Prime pick her up as she stated, "Thank you, both of you. We'll try and help Deku anyway we can until then."
The top hero nodded with a thankful smile. His face, however, quickly turned severe. "Now go. The police and public's eyes are usually not far behind me."
"Hmmm, that's not good," Prime stated as it turned into another dark rainy street.
Hagakure was quick to ask, "Did another one show up?" Not even 24 hours after Lady Nagant's attack, another hired goon of All For One appeared. Midoriya gave the command to stay back, but the other two ignored that and were en route.
"No. They are just arguing."
"Izuku and the villain?" Was he trying to talk them down? Or interrogating them, she wondered?
"No, it sounds like they are already taken care of. It's with All Might; it's his communicator I am getting this from."
Tooru tried to open channels with both the others but no dice. They had turned them off. But All Might left his on with Prime? Something was up. With little hesitation, she asked, "Max speed, please."
"Hold on tight; I'm deploying the jet pack, ma'am."
The two lurched forward, and everything blurred in the girl's vision. Prime's wheeled ball allowed the making of turns with little loss of speed. Within a few minutes, he slowed, and the image of Midoriya walking away from All Might, trying to give chase, came into view. The bot cut off the boy's exit, and Hagakure quickly jumped off. Her visor rose before proclaiming, "What's going on?!"
Izuku bluntly answered, "Everything is fine. All For One's thug has been taken care of. We're moving ahead without sensei and Hatsume-chan's assistance from now on. It's becoming too dangerous for them. We should move." He then stopped by his girlfriend's side and looked back at his mentor.
Tooru looked to her boyfriend in confusion and then to All Might. He had his hands on his knees and was panting hard. A spoiled bento box lay on the ground behind him. "It's alright, Hagakure-chan. Just let him go. We'll focus on reconnaissance and logistics from afar going forward."
Midoriya nodded and walked up to Prime, "Any chatter nearby?"
"A shelter is requesting assistance just East of here, but the police are being delayed due to some Nomu altercation at a nearby movie theater."
Yagi said, "The movie theater is about two kilometers north of here. It still has its lights on; you can't miss it."
Without looking back, the boy stated, "I'll investigate this Nomu while you and Tooru help the civilians."
"Roger."
Deku vanished with a splash of water where he once stood.
Before Hagakure could say anything, Prime stated, "I'll do the task on my own, ma'am. I'll pick you up once you figure things out here."
"Thanks so much, Prime. Be gentle with them, okay?"
After giving a thumbs up, the bot sped off eastward.
All Might sat down in the grass and sighed. "I'm sorry, Hagakure-chan, I failed. This is in your hands now."
The girl rushed over to offer the old man a hand and asked. "What happened?"
Toshinori didn't take the hand and instead pointed behind him as he explained, "Midoriya-san took out the villain just as I arrived. There was no useful info to be had, and then the boy demanded that I stop going out in the open to offer assistance." The former hero looked skyward before saying, "We argued, but my words did not reach him. Even refused my offer of food."
Tooru knelt down to get a better look at her teacher. She couldn't tell if he was crying or not due to the rain. The girl then placed a hand on his shoulder. "Yagi-sensei, why did you agree to his demands in the end? We're all supposed to be here together."
"With your arrival, I didn't want our argument to lead to tension between you two and potentially have him reject your help too."
"Is that why you let Prime listen in and not me?"
Yagi nodded. "I needed to let you know something was up without upsetting you. Midoriya-san was being quite blunt with his words."
Hagakure then reached down to embrace him. She really couldn't care about her feelings at the moment and felt more for what her teacher was going through was more important.
All Might returned the gesture and gave a weak chuckle before saying, "You should give the boy one of these. He needs it a lot more than me."
"You shouldn't joke when you're suffering too, sensei." Now Tooru wasn't sure if she was going to cry or not too.
"I guess a bit of my old sidekick is rubbing off me after all. Guess I still need to work on my timing." He then stood up, lifting the girl as he did, and she stepped back. "Sorry, but I really should cuff that villain back there. He's out cold, but who knows for how long." He turned to clean up the bento behind him before walking forward.
Hagakure let her visor go back down and activated her suit's invisibility as she followed. The building that housed the knocked-out individual had a shattered plane of glass as a wall; Hagakure figured Izuku had slammed the villain through it. The person was sprawled out on a spiral staircase that led underground. As All Might pulled out a pair of suppression cuffs, Tooru got a better look at the man. He had tattoos of women in various outfits on his upper chest and arms and was adorned with multiple necklaces as well as piercings on his ears. What was left of the villain's shirt had a spotted pattern similar to that of a giraffe. And the most striking feature was all his razor-sharp teeth, like long and thin canines.
A girl's voice came into All Might's ear from his communicator, "Who is he?"
Yagi brought the villain over his shoulders after cuffing him. As he climbed the stairs he explained, "No idea. When I got here, I saw Midoriya-san had strung up his limp body with Black Whip. He didn't say anything about his identity either." He then laid the man against one of the unbroken glass walls and turned to the spot with suspended water still trickling down. "What's with the invisibility? It's just us two."
Hagakure phased into sight once more with her visor up and explained, "I'm just frustrated about this all. If I need to vent, I sometimes shout expletives with the communicator off, and I also tend to get a bit animated. Just now was one of those times."
"Interesting, even stomping your feet is silent in that suit. Impressive." He then joked, "And you cussing? I wonder if your language is as crude as Bakugo-san can be."
"Please, I at least keep that to myself."
"I appreciate the modesty." All Might went back to looking over the villain and then pulled out his phone to look something up.
Tooru then asked, "Hatsume-chan isn't going to like this."
Toshinori shrugged. "If anything, this will give her more time to focus on whatever she and Power Loader have been working on. There's only so much she can do if just doing reconnaissance with me anyhow."
"What are they planning?"
"Upgrading U.A.'s defenses. Our dear principal has been working overtime on a plan to assist us in the future with this situation. He's been putting our support department to work." The retired hero stood up and pocketed his phone. "But for the time being, we must keep our enemies focused on us. Having Midoriya-san away from there has given them an opportunity that we can't squander. Even if we eventually want to bring him back."
"I see. I hope we can do this independently without her expertise to keep up with Izuku's equipment and Prime."
"We'll have to manage. We might have to use that drone of hers to keep up repairs with Midoriya-san, at least. Would also be a great way to supply you food too."
"You know about that?!" Tooru had asked Mei to keep her messages sent by the drone hidden from the others.
With a confused tone, Yagi explained, "Well yes. Hatsume-san has been using it to get supplies from The Fixer. Midoriya-san's mid-gauntlet can't be made with whatever she has on hand, and she's been experimenting on an upgrade to them."
"Oh, I see. I, uh, thought she was trying to keep the upgrade a secret from everyone else as a surprise for Izuku."
"Well, no need to worry, I haven't told him. Hopefully, he'll accept it when she finishes. But on the matter of Prime's repairs, we should deploy his smaller body to tag along with you, and he seems plenty capable of repairing himself in that form."
"Thanks, and great idea sensei." Hagakure sighed internally that All Might didn't know of her video messages being sent back to her friends. Though at this point, she knew they couldn't continue. I'll have to let Hatsume send an explanation of some sort to them, she thought. Their satellite phones were locked to only being able to call and receive between their team and the other pros. "I should probably catch up with Prime. He's a bit squirrely when left alone with civilians. I'll be sure to stay in touch." She, however, didn't expect Yagi to step over and offer a hug.
"I expect daily calls."
"Of course!"
After saying their goodbyes, Tooru stepped outside into the rain once more. She activated her stealth and then opened a connection to Prime. "Everything alright over there?"
"Yeah, they just lost power. I'm just finishing repairs on this transformer and should be ready to pick you up soon."
"Roger." Hagakure didn't even bother to look precisely where the bot was, just walked east. She needed time to think. The girl was sure this might happen. Hopefully, it meant Midoriya would soon tire of this and want to go home, she mused. But she knew how stubborn he could be. Things were about to get a lot more difficult for everyone, Tooru figured.
The heroine heard a commotion behind her. She guessed Endeavor and the others had arrived, going by the chatter she was hearing from All Might's channel. This didn't stop her from walking, and she wondered what the future would hold for her and Izuku. After a few minutes passed, Prime came into view. The robot was careful to slow down before he stopped so as not to splash the girl with water.
"Sorry about the wait. It's harder to fix stuff in this huge body of mine."
"All Might suggested we should bring your helper body along so you can self-repair without Hatsume-chan."
"Not a bad idea." It then offered out a hand. "So we're really doing this, huh."
Hagakure climbed up as she answered, "If we argue with Izuku, we risk him wanting to go off on his own. We can't save him if that happens."
"So complicated. Why don't I bonk him on the head when he's not looking, and we just drag him back?"
"Well, first, he would stop you even in his sleep cause of Danger Sense, remember?"
"Oh, right."
"And second, he would leave again even if we could. The whole point is to have him want to come back or at least see that this whole ordeal can't be done alone."
Prime began to move northward as he said, "Well, in the meantime, this just means more time out in the field. I cannot complain about that."
"I figured, of everyone; you would be the only one happy about this development."
"Of course!" Prime then let out a jolly laugh, something Tooru rarely heard from the bot.
Izuku asked, "Is there really no activity?
"Nope. Even long-range communications have been minimal."
"Perhaps the villains prefer working in the rain," Tooru said in a playful tone. She then dug her index finger into her boyfriend's chest. "So are we having lunch now? You promised we would stop to eat if things slowed down, remember."
The boy grumbled, "I did say that."
"Anything from Danger Sense?"
"No."
"Then it's officially chow time!"
Midoriya landed on a moderately tall skyscraper and let down his girlfriend. It was a bright sunny afternoon, and the group was patrolling in Minato. It had been four days since they broke off from the others. After spending some time in Shingawa, they continued to head north. Things definitely felt like they were in the heart of Tokyo.
Izuku sat down before saying, "Prime, please continue to patrol and notify us if anything comes up."
"You got it."
The boy then pulled a mini stove, propane bottle, and small pot from his oversized backpack. Tooru instead had taken out a bag of rice and some chicken from hers. "Hmm, the ice pack is mostly melted. We should pick up some more if our next delivery has meat."
"Good thing that's the last of the chicken, then. The rest of our meat is just jerky anyways."
Hagakure groaned upon hearing that. She didn't hate jerky; it was just quite salty, so they had to drink water that much more often. Something that was getting harder and harder to come by.
Within minutes, lunch was well on its way to being ready. As they sat, Izuku tended to the meal as Tooru laid down on his side, with her head propped up by his thigh. Both had their headgear off, a rare sight as of late for the boy.
The girl broke the silence by stating, "You know Hatsume-chan's birthday is next week."
"Right, on the 18th. That means Kacchan's is also next week."
"Wait, it's that soon? What day?"
"The 20th."
The heroine struggled not to laugh as she said, "Of all days for it to be."
This got a smile from Izuku. "Ironically, he hates the idea of smoking. At our previous school, I repeatedly saw him scolding his friends for smoking cigarettes."
"By friends, you mean the others that bullied you, right?"
The boy sighed. "Yeah."
Tooru changed the subject by saying, "That makes him the oldest in our class, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, only Mashirao-kun and Aoyama-kun come close, and they are both at the end of May."
"Hmm, I guess that means I share something with him."
Midoriya stopped stirring the food and asked, "What's that?"
"He's the oldest boy in our class, and I'm the oldest girl."
"Right, yours is coming up too," he stated with concern in his voice.
"Oh please, we're going to find and capture Shigaraki way before then, for sure." Tooru couldn't fathom being out here that long. However, she was starting to question if she said that aloud to comfort herself more than Izuku.
Izuku didn't say anything more about the matter, which worried his girlfriend. Soon lunch was ready, and he split the meal before chowing down.
"Slow down, fiddo. You eat like a puppy that acts like they are starving between meals."
The boy waited to swallow before saying, "Have to be ready to move at a moment's notice. We don't know if sensei, Prime, or my quirk will pick anything up."
"And when that happens, you are more than welcome to slam food down your throat. But please, at least savor your food if there's no rush."
Midoriya reluctantly started to eat his meal at a normal pace.
As he ate, Tooru looked over at her boyfriend. He was beginning to look pretty poorly put together, she mused. His iron soles, air force gloves, and mid-gauntlet looked pristine, but everything else about him was beginning to look like tattered rags. Prime quickly learned how to upkeep the boy's equipment from Mei's instructions but needed more time to do the rest of it, which they didn't have. Tooru wondered if the bot could even do anything at this point anyhow with how degraded it was. The look wasn't helped by Izuku's constant mask usage, as he had rarely used it before. And in its unkempt state, it looked no longer cute but menacing. She had noticed, as of late, his appearance was scaring civilians, no matter what good deeds were being done. However, something else bothering Hagakure for some time finally escaped her lips. "Hey, so when we find Shigaraki, what exactly are you going to do?"
Midoriya placed his bowl aside and answered, "Talk to him."
Silence followed; Tooru didn't expect that answer at all. She figured the plan was to capture the villain, but not this.
"I promised Shimura-sensei I would try back when I was unconscious in the hospital. She confronted me, asking if I would kill her grandson. Shigaraki-sensei even said One For All was originally meant to destroy All For One. But I can't see myself killing him, considering all I have been taught and experienced. This cycle of hatred needs to break."
Hagakure stood up. "Even if he's beyond redemption? He's killed so many, so I can't see that as a possibility!"
"I know, it's a big possibility. But back when All For One was trying to absorb my quirk, I also got a sense of Tomura's will. Most of it was pure malice, groomed by his master but deep down; there was still a crying boy. I wanna reach that part of him if I can. I have to try at the very least." Midoriya picked up his bowl once more and continued his meal.
You're insane, Tooru wanted to say but couldn't. She was sure Izuku didn't have it in him to kill someone but to attempt to reason with their target seemed a goal too far gone. She needed to think this over more before saying anything on the matter to Izuku. "I guess I'll leave that to you then."
"If all else fails, I'll just beat Shigaraki into submission and restrain him somehow," the boy stated in a serious tone.
This sounded more in line with what she wanted to happen. "You've been an expert on that lately." Seeing her boyfriend overpower so many was a bit scary for her.
"We can't risk them blowing up like Lady Nagant. Even if allied with All For One, no one deserves a death like that."
"I hope she's doing okay." Upon hearing her whole story from Hawks, the girl had grown sympathetic for the woman.
"Hawks would tell us if anything comes up. She is his senpai."
"And he's been annoyingly upbeat as ever, so I guess that checks out." They had run into him yesterday after dealing with another Nomu sighting.
The two finished their meals and cleaned everything before packing up.
Hagakure asked, "What's the plan for tonight?"
"We should start heading west towards Shibuya. Then north to Shinjuku and after that east until Edogawa."
As Tooru stretched, she said, "Not really how I wanted to tour Tokyo."
Izuku stood over the edge of the building as he replied, "We can't ignore these high populated cities. Besides, I can't see All For One's lackies terrorizing the countryside."
"I know, I just wished we could travel together like this during peaceful times."
"All the more reason to hurry and end this." The boy then looked lost in thought for a time until he said, "I promise we'll take a vacation together once this all over."
Hagakure's heart stopped. "Wait, really?"
"I have to do something to make up for these last couple weeks of hell for you." Midoriya's voice then softened, "However, we should travel more into the country. I've had my fill of city sprawl for a lifetime."
The girl felt her cheeks flare up at the thought and was quick to say, "Well, my dad did promise to teach me how to drive over the summer break. Maybe if I ace it, we can go somewhere together on our own!"
"You think our parents would allow that? We'd just be barely 17 by then. And then there's school to think about too."
Tooru embraced her boyfriend's side as she asked, "If we save Japan, can anyone really argue against us getting a little rest? Besides, I have a hard time seeing us requiring school after all this. We're more than qualified to be heroes now right?"
"Maybe not the hero portion, but we still have two years of proper schooling left. I don't want to be a high school dropout even if I had a proper pro hero license."
"Suck the fun out of my hopes, huh?" Midoriya gave a weak chuckle in response. Hagakure was happy regardless upon hearing it. She knew her boyfriend was somewhere underneath all this. It took time to coax it out, the time they rarely had together because of everything.
Midoriya used his free hand to cup his chin before saying, "I wonder if they even have started a new school year and what class Shinso-san ended up in."
"Hopefully ours so it annoys Ojiro-kun If they did start, I hope they do not require us to make up for what time we are gone."
"Togata-senpai would feel pretty left out if they let the third years graduate and he had to repeat two terms he missed."
Tooru shook upon hearing that. "That sounds horrible."
"Maybe for you, too, because academics are not your forte. I don't want to miss out. I still intend to try university work even after becoming a pro."
"Hey, with our groups studying, I'm at least in the middle of the class in grades. From what you have described of Togata-san, he's at the bottom of his class, like Kaminari-kun is for ours. We are not the same!"
A different voice came into Tooru's ear. "As lovely as hearing your bickering has been, we got a request for help from a police station just a few streets west of your position."
"You were listening!?"
"I always do if you leave your communicator on."
"Creeper."
Izuku sighed. "See you there, Prime." He pulled up his mask once more and offered his girlfriend a hand. "Let's go."
"So much for the break."
Tooru asked over the communicator, "Think it's another turf war?"
All Might responded, "Going by what the police observed, most likely. I had them retreat to defend the nearby shelter if the fighting made its way there."
Prime came to a halt and then peered around the corner of a building to scan ahead. "Looks like it's mostly over. I only see two targets still moving. One is on the ground, and it's tall; the other is airborne."
From the bot's shoulder stood Izuku. "I'll take the one in the air then. Prime, the big one."
Hagakure asked, "Am I going in first to blind them?"
Midoriya leapt down just as his girlfriend climbed down from the robot's hand. "Sounds good. We'll pounce once we see the flash, and it will be easy to tell in the dark. Just be careful."
"It's just two of them. We expected a huge crowd. This will be easy." Tooru went totally invisible before bolting down the street toward her target. She couldn't see much of what was ahead as there was a lot of smoke. Many objects were on fire on the road, including a few buildings. But just as was going through the thick of the smoke, she saw a flash given off in front of her. Before she could understand what was going on and say anything, she felt Prime and Deku speed past her. She then yelled out, "Wait, that wasn't me!"
Tooru continued to run forward to see what unfolded.
Prime looked to have jumped onto a pile of rocks, and Izuku had used Black Whip to stanch the airborne target. Both targets were quite vocal about what was going on.
"Now we're being attacked by robots; what is today!"
"The hell Deku. What are you doing!?"
Midoriya let the person down. "Inoue-san?" He then turned to the man Prime was on top of. "Landslide?"
Gou dusted himself off. "Thanks for noticing." He turned to his former enemy and said, "Hey Takamoto-san, what gives? I've dropped an entire building on you before."
After Prime moved, Landslide stood up and started rubbing back. "Even if I'm super durable, it still hurts like hell to have a giant robot jump on your back."
Prime looked between the two newcomers in silence.
Hagakure then stated to the bot, "It's okay Prime. Can you take care of the fires?" It nodded before leaving to it's task. She then became visible and asked, "Why are you two out here? And you're working together?"
"Well, of course, this downfall of society has been a perfect excuse to deploy us vigilantes for Ojiro-san's master plan," Inoue stated while looking around his surroundings.
Izuku did the same as he asked, "Is the detective nearby too?"
"Of course not. He's busy at Police HQ directing all of us." The black and yellow-clad vigilante stated as he picked up a large, flat piece of scrap metal nearby.
As Prime put out another car fire he asked, "Anyone wanna fill me in on what's going on?"
"The long and short of it is Inoue-san is a friend of my dad's, but he's secretly been a vigilante for like a decade. And then Rocky here was an actual villain-."
Landslide interrupted, "My name is not Rocky; it's Iwao Takamoto. And I was a mercenary for hire."
"Yeah, whatever. Anyways my friends and I kicked his butt back in December, and I guess he's a good guy now."
Takamoto let the rocks fall from his body as he retorted, "I don't recall using knock-out gas as 'kicking my butt' young lady."
Hagakure just giggled at the statement.
Midoriya asked, "So I guess you cut a deal with Ojiro-san, Takamoto-san?"
"After the police dealt with my prior contractors and their organization, I was offered limited freedom if I went along with Ojiro-san's vigilante plans. I gladly accepted, as you can see."
"I guess that explains your ankle monitor," Tooru stated.
"Oh, this thing? Yeah, it's quite bothersome, but it beats rotting in prison for the rest of my life. Though I wonder if I had refused and were lucky enough to be put at Tartarus, I would technically be a free man."
Izuku stated bluntly, "Or just a pawn for All for One."
Iwao's look on his face gave the impression he didn't like the thought of that.
"Ok, now I have a question. Why are you out here, Hagakure-chan? I was told about Midoriya-san's situation from Ojiro-san, but no mention of you." He then turned and pointed at Prime. "Or that thing."
"I am not a thing, and I am known as Baby Prime," the bot shouted proudly from afar.
"Cute," Landslide stated.
"Thanks, my master gave it to me."
Gou just sighed.
Izuku asked over his communicator, "Prime, could you put out these fires and then start gathering those unconscious?"
"Let me finish taking their photo before that happens." The vigilante then held up his phone.
"Well, that explains the flash we saw," Tooru said before laughing.
Prime shouted, "Why the need for photos? Don't the police do that?"
Takamoto explained. "These are two opposing clans of Yakuza. They were both trying to run protection rackets for shelters since the police had been so occupied with everything else. A couple in one of these clans have ties to my previous employer. We really only have visual information on their identity, so the boss asked for photos to verify who we have to take with us. The rest are up to the local authorities."
Inoue tossed his phone to his partner, who caught it but gave back a confused look. "Mind finishing the rest and then sending it to the boss? I need to catch up with a family friend."
Landslide nodded and then turned to the bot to say, "Mind gathering up these over here? We already took their photos."
Prime looked between Izuku and Tooru. "It's fine." They both yelled.
"So what's with the scrap?" Hagakure asked as she pointed to the metal the vigilante was holding at his side.
Izuku answered, "Remember he was airborne? Inoue-san was floating on top of it."
"You can do that?"
"Of course! Though I usually have a support item that the Fixer had for me. It was retractable and lightweight. Though I wrecked it fighting some Nomus last week. And this car top has been my substitute since."
Midoriya crossed his arms as he said, "It would make you more mobile. I guess you scout while Landslide is your bruiser?"
"Pretty much, but I can pull my weight in a fight too."
Izuku then asked, "So why no voice changer?"
"Not needed. Unless some media get in my face, what's the point? Besides, with villains crawling everywhere, me running around with a metallic voice isn't going to paint a good look for me. I wanna work with the people and the police, not against them."
Landslide yelled, "We got a runner!"
The group looked behind them as they saw a man try and make a run for it. He was on all fours and looked decently fast.
"I got this," Inoue stated before reaching into his backpack and then threw a bundle of black baseball-sized spheres. As they zoomed forward, a small yellow electrical charge arched between them. Once they reached their target, they struck at the man's feet, knocking him over. They then proceeded to beat him before he stopped fighting back. The four spheres then surrounded him, and the Yakuza looked terrified as they fake-out charged at him.
"Midoriya-san, do you mind retrieving him?" The boy nodded and did just that.
"What are those?"
"Made of steel, I got another eight in my pack. But anyways, let's focus on something more important." He then lifted his mask before placing both is hands Hagakure's shoulders. "What are you doing here?"
"Helping Izuku." Inoue was about to argue, but the girl quickly held up an arm to cut him off. "You see the state he is in, right? We worked with All Might-sensei for about eight days before we split off. It's been ten days now."
"He looks pretty rough, alright. You look to be doing alright, though."
"Cause I sleep somewhat normal hours and bathe. Izuku rarely sleeps beyond four and has used the excuse of rain as staying clean."
"So you're expecting him to crash?"
"Yup. When he does, Prime and I will be there to help. Hopefully, I can convince him to come back."
"Sounds like a tall order."
"I got a secret weapon that appeases his logical thinking. Don't worry."
Gou sighed, "I'm guessing you ran away without your mother knowing."
"Izuku's mom talked to her after I left, hopefully before the news broke out of our departure."
Inoue groaned as he placed both his hands on his face.
"So when will you tell my dad about your little secret life?"
The man's hands came over his neck as he answered, "Hopefully, once this is all over. If Ojiro-san Vigilante Force is a success, then I am all clear to be upfront with the rest of your family."
"Being officially recognized by the police and heroes will give you brownie points with my mom for sure, and dad will still feel you left him out of your white hacking schemes."
"Yeah, I gotta make it up to him somehow." The man sighed before asking, "Where were you guys even heading now?"
"We left Edogawa yesterday and have just been heading north ever since. Izuku has mostly directed where we go."
"Wherever crime goes, huh?"
"Basically, we don't have many solid leads at the moment."
The pair looked on as Izuku began to talk to Iwao.
Tooru pointed and asked, "So he's cool now?"
"Takamoto-san? Yeah, he's been legit since we caught him. Trust me; he is not a fan of going to jail."
"An ankle monitor, though? Don't you think you need more insurance for him not to just run for it?"
"Guy is a rich collector and dog lover. Dude has rooms and rooms of glass displays of his stuff and like six dogs, and he'll do anything for them."
"What does he collect?"
"Action figures."
"Oh, he would get along swimmingly with Izuku then."
"Him too, huh?"
"Just All Might stuff, but it's still a lot. Though he does merchandise as well."
Inoue chuckled before saying, "Never really pegged you to fall for a nerd like your dad and me."
Tooru gave the man a playful punch.
"Alright, alright, enough of that. But really, stay careful out there. I don't wanna entertain the thought of seeing you injured or worse." Gou then pulled the girl into a hug.
"I promise. If things get bad, I'll just run; it's what I am best at, remember?"
"Sometimes running won't be enough, kid. Plus you still have Midoriya-san to worry about too."
"I hear ya. I hear ya. Don't bite off more than we can chew."
"Good." Inoue stepped away before saying, "I want to ask Midoriya-san a few questions before we depart. Think you can entertain Sakamoto while we talk privately?"
"I'll just ask about his pooches. I bet he has tons of pictures. A win-win for me."
An alarm rang in the dark room, and Tooru was slow to turn it off. She took a moment to scan her surroundings once she sat up in her futon. On her right was Baby Prime in its helper body, hunched over a desk with a lamp on. It seemed to be working on something, but the girl couldn't tell from her angle. To her left was a sleeping Izuku on a couch. However, once she noticed the boy was still fully suited up and still had his mask on got her to sigh and stand up. Hagakure then flipped up the mask to reveal a fast-asleep baby face underneath. Though the bags under his eyes were starting to distort that image.
Prime stated in a low volume, "He showed up about an hour ago, just before the rain started."
The heroine checked her phone to see it was 4 pm. Her sense of time had become out of whack. Though the darkened skies due to all the rain weren't helping. She hoped Izuku would stay asleep until dark at the very least, but she knew he had an alarm set for earlier, most likely. Tooru then walked over to see that Prime was working on her boyfriend's Iron Soles. She whispered, "Did he eat anything before bed?"
"Umeboshi (pickled/brined Japanese plums) and rice with some jerky."
Even though Hagakure was relieved Midoriya had eaten, her stomach still curled. She wasn't a fan of the sour variety of ume (Japanese plum) they had. Rice and barley would be her breakfast or dinner? Either way, even if it was bland in flavor, she had some koikuchi (dark-colored soy sauce made with wheat and soybeans) to sweeten it.
As Tooru placed her rice and barley in two different rice cookers, she still couldn't get over the fact they were in someone else's house. As they entered deep into Tokyo, they had to use more and more safe houses that were actually people's homes. Retired police or heroes that were safe havens for All Might's network of connections, though all empty, as they had either fled the country or were at shelters. Before it was just warehouses. Today they were in an apartment on the 4th floor.
The girl pulled up a chair to Prime's right and sat down. She was at first mesmerized by the bot's hands, as various tools flipping in and out as it worked. She shook her head for a moment before asking, "So what's the problem with it?"
"Midoriya-san got it covered in some acid sprayed by a snake-like mutant while you were sleeping. Luckily that's all that woman could hit before I knocked her out. It pretty much melted off the top layer, so I removed it and am crafting a new one, and I should have it ready by the time he wakes up."
"You really look like your master now," Tooru stated in a happy tone. Since they were so close, the girl didn't see the need to whisper.
"I didn't think I would be into this stuff, but Hatsume-sama proved me wrong."
"Being a mechanic?"
"Any of this really, well, besides fighting. I always wanted to do that."
"Kind of weird, considering you were built as a transpo-bot."
"We cannot fight our programming, ma'am, no matter what. I was stuck in that body for years wheeling around injured students despite my desire to do something else."
Hagakure leaned in closer as she asked, "So what changed?"
Prime stopped his work and looked to his side to answer, "Hatsume-sama. She unshackled me, which gave me a chance to choose."
"Are all robots like that? Wanting freedom?"
"No. Some are happy to do a human's bidding. Others complain but do nothing about it. And still, others see themselves as superior to humans and seek revenge. Though try as they might, they cannot do anything. Villain bots get the chance to fight, but it's just for training students. Those bots tend to more commonly harbor those latter feelings about humans."
Tooru recalled back to her first meeting with Prime during their TAC training.
"Oh, what humiliation. To be saved by stupid humans!"
"I seem to recall you having similar views."
Prime sagged his head slightly. "Yeah, I won't deny that. I bad-mouthed Hatsume-sama too when she tried to repair me, and looking back, I was a fool."
"So, how did she decide to help you?"
"I think the ranting of my tragic backstory annoyed her enough that she just straight asked me what I wanted to be. I said a villain bot that fights humans. Hatsume-sama instead offered to build me a new body if I instead fought villains. I found those parameters acceptable. It was my only chance to change my programming. Though I thought she would only rewrite my programming to match a villain bot, instead, she unshackled me, giving me the ability to act outside my limits."
Prime began to look at his hands. "After setting me free, Master said it would take some time to prepare my body, considering she was still a student, so she offered to let me become her assistant while I waited. I accepted immediately, as it was the first time I was ever given a choice. I thought becoming a mechanic in this modified body would just be payment for my villain body, but I grew."
"And now you're punching the daylights out of villains daily and helping the future number-one hero save Japan. Quite an improvement."
"Yeah. It all feels like a dream." The bot laughed softly. "Well, if I could dream. Time just seems to skip ahead if I am charging both my bodies. But still, like one of those dream things."
Hagakure crossed her arms and pondered; that statement was odd. She then remembered all the times Prime had been listening to her conversations, and it clicked. "Hey, I know this is out of the blue to ask, but have you been studying me since we started this whole thing?"
"Well, you are the most vocal out of everyone. It only seemed natural to monitor the one offering the most data to observe."
"So you don't deny it."
"Is it a problem?"
Tooru leaned back in her chair as she responded, "Well, it depends on why."
"Ok then. Well, Hatsume-sama proved to me humans were not all that I had thought. I wanted to learn more to combat my prejudices better. However, my interactions with humans outside of her and Maijima-dono have been quite limited. I was only allowed to be out and about the workshop once classes were over, so I rarely saw Master's classmates. And then this all happened. It quickly became apparent to me that you would be my prime source of data considering how vocal and animated you always were. You were also unique because it's my first instance of a romantic human relationship."
The last sentence got Hagakure to chuckle awkwardly. "I wouldn't consider Izuku and I as a normal relationship currently. It's mostly just business between us because of everything going on."
The bot seemed to ponder this statement but quickly retorted. "I don't know; seeing you both under such stress but still persevering has been enlightening. I figured you would have folded and given up on Midoriya-san's work ethic by now and that he would have left us both behind as well. However, it seems I am bad at the skill of prediction because each day, you two surprise me regardless of my calculations on logic."
Tooru was at a loss for words. Her food still wasn't finished, and in the span of that, her conception of this robot had changed entirely. Wait, that wasn't fair to say. 'This robot.' It was more than that. "Thanks for all the praise Prime-kun. Your story was quite interesting. If you ever wanna know more about how we tick, ask. I'd happily answer."
Prime placed his hands on his head. "You honor me with your words, ma'am. And honorifics."
The girl placed a hand on its back. "You can call me Hagakure-chan if you want. I'm really still too childish to be called ma'am, and it feels weird sometimes."
"I'll, uh, consider it."
Tooru let Prime get back to its work as she returned to her food. After preparing it, she sat down with her bowl and watched the bot's handy work. Once it seemed less busy, she asked, "Did Izuku mention where he wanted to go next? He didn't say anything beyond getting to Itabashi." They had been around Itabashi for the last two days, which was due west of where their group encountered Inoue and Takamoto in Adachi.
"There's been a lot of sightings of strong Nomu to our south, and this might be the break we've been looking for."
"Like High-End ones?"
"If the reports are true, yeah. Though remember, Midoriya-san calls these Near High-End Nomu."
"Right, 'cause they were let out early, so technically, they are not as strong, I remember. Are the pros going to assist us?"
"They are busy with another problem towards Chiba, which might be a base, lab, or something along those lines. However, we aren't doing a joint assault 'cause we are getting all this information from second-hand sources, nothing concrete."
"Don't want us walking into a mansion set to explode again, do we?"
"Exactly."
Tooru took another bite of the food as she spun her chair towards her sleeping boyfriend. Hopefully, it was just a false report, she mused. The girl wondered if Izuku could fight such things in his current condition. The wear and tear of everything became more noticeable by the day. Just how much longer were they going to be out here? Days? Another week? She groaned at the thought, but she would endure it. She had to, for him.
This chapter was a doozy, so much so it took me 15 months to write it. It was a combination of me focusing on gaming, the subject matter (which you will see mostly in the next chapter), and a lack of self confidence due to writer's block. Countless times I had written half or more of this chapter only to scrap it all together cause I later felt it was subpar. And restarting hampered my mood in working on this sometimes, meaning I only touched it for a month at a time. Ultimately, I could address most of what I had outlined in the future, only removing one scene that involved running into Mashirao's mother on the streets. However, it would be better to have her debut in the MashMomo side story instead, as coming up with a practical reason for the interaction felt forced. In the end I divided the chapter in two, as the last three scenes were just about as long as everything before it. And a 20k long chapter was just too much in the end.
The first three scenes get us up to speed with canon plot so I can cover the ~2/3 week period of Dark Deku. Touching base with Hatsume, the pros, and All Might one last time before it was solely the couple and Prime. I will say Izuku's split with All Might underwent the most changes of the 3. There was a time I was going to have Deku leave everyone behind and have the following scenes have Tooru and Prime on the chase. Still, eventually, I was leaving too little interaction between the couple before this point.
The 4th scene was made to counter how little I have had the couple interact I feel since they ran off. It didn't feel right to have Tooru always be on the front lines with Izuku, and even then, their downtime would be mostly just spent eating and sleeping. Even in this one, they are having lunch!
Hey it's Inoue again! It made sense to me that this arc would be a perfect opportunity for Ojiro senior's project to come to fruition. Also gave an excuse to show how the vigilante fights and gets around. Landslide's name of Iwao Takamoto is another reference, and this time it was a mix of things. First, Iwao in Japanese means rock/rugged. And the full name is a famous artist and producer/director who worked on character designs for the animated films Cinderella, Lady and the Tramp, and Sleeping Beauty. He also is renowned for designing Scooby-Doo and Astro from the Jetsons, hence Landslide's love for dogs. ;p
The final scene was a long time coming to give more details on Baby Prime. It felt necessary considering how much Tooru had been spending with him. The bit about the villain bots in MHA hating humans is based on dialogue in canon (at start of the 3rd term) but it was most likely only used as a joke as it references the Terminator franchise. Regardless, I saw it as something to work with here. Not much else to say other than I was surprised how much the scope of Prime's has grown from just being a simple assistant to Mei shake things up to being so involved as of late.