Izuku POV
Standing up, I looked down at the scene that I'd just created only moments before. There was a small time thug knocked out at my feet, his hands high above his head as they were nicely bound to the alley dumpster with a pair of zip ties serving as makeshift handcuffs. The only evidence other than the ties of the fight from before was the slight redness on the man's jaw that matched the light bruises dusting my knuckles.
Turning the phone on, not mine but the thugs, I went to the emergency call function and called the local police, telling them where to find the man. The people on the other side of the line knew better than to ask for my name by now after recognizing my voice from all of the other countless times I've called them.
Leaving the small-time criminal at the mercy of the late night cops being sent out to collect him, I left the scene, running before they could try and get me too.
For the most part, even after doing this for almost seven months now, the only pro hero I've run into and spoken with was Eraserhead. No surprise there since he is one of the few underground heroes that actually work in the city at night instead of on classified missions, acting closer to spies than heroes. Most heroes in general tend to only patrol during the daytime, but the cops worked diligently both day and night, they saw both the big time villains that the public feared, and the small time monsters waiting in the dark to commit all of the crimes that people used to fear the most before quirks came into the play.
And they were diligently not fond of me.
On the slow nights, I'd scurry up to one of the neighboring roofs and watch on as the cops came and arrested the crooks, seeing how long the tranquilizer lasted after I used it so I could adjust the formula as needed. More than once during these nights I'd hear the cops grumbling below about the mess that I'd made and ordering men to look for the 'pesky vigilante'.
Yeah... not so fond of me.
So I ran off before they could get here, spending the rest of my night looking for the mundane dangers that the limelight heroes didn't want to deal with and the police couldn't always get to in time.
Though, I hadn't stopped looking for Tsubasa. Even as I took up more time focusing on my normal patrols, the missing winged teen was still fresh in my mind. Though it had been two weeks.
Two weeks longer than I was sure the boy had to spare.
I cursed myself for my incompetence at not being able to find the other teen, at wasting precious time following fruitless leads for far too long.
Tailing the doctor every night for a week had gotten me nothing more than a better familiarity with the abandoned parts of the city. I'd spent so much time sure that he knew something only to find the doctor taking something of the long way home.
Dr. Garaki's house, as it turned out, was on the other side of the abandoned part of the city, a simple fact that made his nightly exploits seem all the more reasonable and all the less suspicious as I had thought they were.
My only lead was a bust and still no one knew where the missing middle schooler was.
The heavy sounds of grunting and a body being slammed violently into one of the alley dumpsters filled my ears suddenly.it was a sound that I was all too familiar with, always being on the receiving end of those slams and pushes. Looming silently, I gazed down at the scene below me, analyzing the behavior of the people below.
Everyone down there looked like all of the other criminals that I'd seen in the past seven or so months, shabbily dressed, using their quirks however they wished to get what they wanted, motions of aggression taking over them. The only thing that set this group apart into factions was that three had blood on them, while the fourth person only looked like he had on his clothes and fear clouding his movements.
The sound of a distant alarm blared loudly from near the banking district was a soft melody in my ears as I looked down at them. The men below took on a new form in my mind as I carefully jumped down, rolling out of the moon from the short two story fall.
Three killers and one accomplice that obviously didn't know just what he was getting himself into tonight.
Landing just a few feet away from the cornoy scene, I looked at the four men, feeling the weight of their stares on my skin, studying me as I had studied them earlier.
Whatever they found they did not seem to be impressed by it.
"This is no place for a brat," one of the men, the leader I assume, snarled at me like a savage animal. "Get lost before we make it your place."
I only sighed and walked towards the men at an easy pace that could almost be called leasurily if it wasn't for me sliding my brass knuckles onto my fingers as I did.
One of the Lackies saw this and took it as the sign of aggression that it was, stepping forward to meet me halfway. The man seemed to have something of a porcupine type quirk because when he came closer a long, thick, needle sprouted from the other man's arm like an instant blade.
"Personally," Porcupine said, moving the needle as if the get a feel for the new weight in his hand, "I have nothing against hurting children, especially arrogant bastards like you."
With that, the man swung at me, going for my throat with the blade as if it belonged to him. A flash of surprise and amusement flickered across the man's face when I nimbly dogged the attack made by the older man.
Wasting no time, he swung again at me, but I lunged at the man as well, rolling beneath his guard and coming up behind the man. As if on instinct, I slammed my fist into the back of Porcupine's head, hoping that it would be enough to daze the criminal for long enough to deal with his friends that were watching this with passive gazes that seemed all too used to the fallen man's violent antics.
From the way that the man fell to his knees, I thought maybe it was.
The last two remaining criminals nodded at each other swiftly before dashing at me from across the alley. The one on the right, another lackey, turned his arm into a wip, getting a good gash at my side before I realized just what he was doing. The other, the boss, grew slightly in height and strength, punching me in the stomach as I crumpled lightly from the blow from his partner.
Whipman raised his arm again with a cruel smile on his face that reminded me too much of a certain blond's that I used to know. I couldn't stop myself from freezing up beneath that glare, only watching on passively as the man pulled his arm further back before swinging it forwards with a newfound vigor at my expression. To slow from pain to properly get up, I curled up in a ball on my side to minimize the space that he could hit, watching silently as he brought his arm down in a cruel arc.
However, the blow never came.
A white piece of a cloth-like substance entered my field of vision, wrapping itself around Whipman. It encased the man from the shoulders to the hips and trapped the man's arms by his sides in a viscous grip.
Eraserhead.
The silent glee filled my head enough that I almost forgot about the leader. But he didn't really seem to like to be forgotten or ignored.
The man aimed a kick at my head, but missed as I rolled away just before the deadly hit could land. I saw Eraserhead run forward and knock Whip man out cleanly with one hit to the man's face while I played on the wrong end of whack a mole.
Rolling to my side, I noticed that the man's side suddenly got smaller, shrinking him back to the way I'd first found him. Not missing the opportunity that had been created for me, I aimed my tranquilizer gun at the leader, taking care to shoot the man in the stomach as he'd done to me.
As the minor villain fell to the floor, Eraserhead rounded on me with a fiery glare that only grew stronger as his eyes flared red and his hair stood up on its own. I knew that he was angry but I couldn't tell why.
Thoughts of him finding out about my lack of quirk flooded my mind, but we're squashed by the words that came out of the man's mouth.
"Three people?" Eraserhead asked, his tone the iciest that I've ever heard it, a stark contrast to the man's eyes. "What the hell were you thinking taking in three people with quirks you didn't know and no back to support you all at once?"
Is he mad because I almost got hurt...?
—-
Aizawa POV
I watched in not so silent frustration as the kid's brows scrunched together in clear confusion. He looked like someone that wasn't used to having anyone care about them, that was confused by even the idea of it.
Problem child...
"I would've found a way out of it," the vigilante finally decides, crossing his arms slightly in a quiet defiance.
"And if you didn't?" I asked, my frustration only rising more and more by the second.
The boy only shrugs as if him getting a beating, or more than likely, dying didn't really mean a thing to him.
I'm about to round in on the child vigilante again but stop when the short teen suddenly raises his gun, holding it up to my head like he was about to shoot me with it. But the aim was wrong for that. Instead when the boy pulled the trigger, the strange paintball type bullet was fired at the mouth of the alley. When I turned around and looked at what Icarus had just shot, I saw a porcupine type person who's quills were slowly sinking back into his skin.
I didn't know what this moment of information gathering would cost me.
When I turned back around, the teen vigilante was gone, all that was left were the three knocked out or drugged criminals and a fourth man that I was sure was a criminal as well if the blue dye in his finger said anything about it.
Them and a sinking suspicion that I didn't want to have.
Icarus, he doesn't act like someone that wants to live.
—-
I let the kid go, knowing that I could find him easily if I really wanted to, but not wanting to do anything that might set the obviously problematic child off.
After calling the local police and informing them on the situation with the four criminals, I made my way down to the station to give an account of what'd happened and do the necessary paperwork that I dreaded almost as much as having to deal with the new batch of students I was bound to get in less than three months.
The police station had a quiet buzz when I walked, calmer than normal as about half of the officers on night duty seemed to be out right now for whatever reason. The woman at the front desk seemed to be listening to music to try and stay awake as she pointed to where the hero report forms were on the counter, not that she really needed to, they haven't put them anywhere different in years.
I filled out the information quickly, retelling the past event in as much detail as I could remember, before dropping it into the basket with a loud sigh.
My patrol hours for the night were almost over and all I wanted right now was to go home and crash on the couch with my cat, but I still had things to do tonight before I could get to that point.
Detective Tsukauchi was waiting in his office for me with a cup of hot coffee already being held out before I even got the door all the way open. It wasn't as strange a sight as it should've been. For the past few weeks now, I've been coming here almost every night to talk with the detective about the same case.
"Anything new?" Tsukauchi asked as he refilled his own cup of coffee.
I sipped at mine first, hating how weak the man still managed to make it, but needed the caffeine to make it home.
"No," I grumbled. "No new evidence, no new leads, just the same old mess."
The detective sighed, sounding a little to like me for either of our likings. "Months of looking and no signs of the missing people."
I ran my hands through my hair, careful to avoid the goggles there. Between this and Icarus I haven't had any breaks in months.
"And your vigilante?" The deceive asked, the dislike evident in the other's tone. Tsukauchi didn't like it the first time that I got mixed up with vigilantes, he seems to like it even less right now.
"He said he wasn't looking into the missing people, but I've been following him a little during the night. He hasn't found anything either."
Tsukauchi took another sip of his coffee. "Bring him in," the detective ordered, "I want to know just what made him decide to presume this, and get the boy off of the street before he gets wrapped up in something that he can't handle. If the kid really wants to be a hero he should go about it the legal ways."
—-
Izuku POV
I felt my heartbeat go back to its normal resting rate as my breathing slowed down from the slight elevation that it'd been brought to. Hitoshi was collapsed on the grass next to me, his chest heaving in a way that didn't seem healthy at all for the mile that we'd just finished running a minute or so before.
I sat down next to the taller teen, drawing my knees up to my chest as I looked down at him. "You okay, Hito?"
All I got was a meak thumbs up in response. So all the other boy got was a small hum.
We let the silence hang, watching the sun set in front of us, painting the sky in an orange and pink hue. It was a pretty sight when coupled with the small pond not far in front of us, the kind that artist come and paint every now and then when they're foolish enough to think that it's an original idea.
The other teen slowly sat up, still watching the sight in front of us as the colors darkened and slowly turned into a sight that I was much more familiar with as of late.
"Izu," the purple haired boy started, a carefulness that I'd hadn't heard in months taking over the teen's tone, "I'm sure that you could make it into Gen Ed. with your kind of brains and transfer into the hero course later if you wanted to."
I sighed heavily, shaking my head sternly. This wasn't a conversation that I ever thought I would have to go through, and it certainly wasn't one that I wanted to have.
"Hito," I cut off whatever speech he'd planned, "stop."
The boy shook his head. "Did you forget? I'm the one that helped you sell all of your old hero merchandise, I know that you wanted to become one-"
"Hito-"
"-Your fast and your smart-
"Hitoshi-"
"-and I'm sure that if you trained some you could be one."
"Shinso! Don't make me sit here and explain all of the reasons why that would never work."
The other teen looked hurt, it wasn't a look that I liked on him but one that was needed right now.
The truth was, I could probably pass the UA entrance exam right now if I truly wanted to, all I would need is a bowstaff or something of the like to deal with whatever they decided to throw at us. I made an extendable bow staff at my house that I've been practicing with some each day before heading out for patrol, getting used to the new weapon before I actually decided to use it in combat.
I could pass, but they wouldn't let me in.
It's like All Might said, a hero's job is dangerous, too dangerous for someone without a quirk. They'd never let someone like me into the hero course, maybe even into the school in general. And I wouldn't want them to, I know where I belong and it's not there. Not with the things that I've done, the laws that I've broken that only don't count because of the way that I was born.
"It's a nice idea, Hito, but it's a pipe dream."
The other teen only ducked his head in response.
I stood up and held a hand out to the other boy. "Come on," I encourage when Hitoshi didn't move, "weekly dinner at my place, Mom would be sad if you didn't come."
The other teen's lips quirked slightly and took the outstretched hand, was careful to not let him pull to hard that it would annoy the small gash on my side from the whip.
"Can't have that, now can we?"
—-
All For One POV
I listened to the doctor report that the boy had stopped following him, something that I was relieved to hear from the old man's mouth. Dismissing the man, I tuned into the constant quiet beeping of the machines surrounding me. I couldn't help but still think that it was interesting that the boy would follow the teen at all to begin with.
"Just who are you really, Icarus?"