2nd update of the day!
*Izuku's POV*
I wasn't sure why Kacchan and Todoroki took so long to get off of the train. They were walking really slow and talking in hushed voices. I wanted to run back and tell them to hurry up, but I didn't want to invade on the clearly private conversation, so I just waited for them to catch up. When they finally got done talking, Kacchan walked ahead of Todoroki and walked up to me and ruffled my hair affectionately. "What were you two talking about?" I asked. Kacchan shrugged slightly, "Just threatening him, you know how I am." he said nonchalantly. I wanted to scold him, but I knew that it would probably do no good. Todoroki had caught up, so we all walked through the train station and waited at the front for Endeavour or one of his sidekicks to pick us up.
We had been waiting for 10 minutes before Endeavour showed up. It was impossible to miss him as he walked down the street. People scurried to get out of the way of the mountain of muscle. He looked as intimidating as ever as he came to a stop before us. I moved back behind Kacchan ever so slightly, I didn't like the angry look on Endeavour's face as he glared at us. "Let's get one thing straight before we start this internship," Endeavour growled, he didn't even greet us, though what could I expect after all I had heard from Todoroki about him. "I only offered you to the internship because Shoto asked me to. If I had it my way you'd be stuck in the office all day and I'd be showing Shoto the ropes, but the school demands that you see fieldwork, so be grateful, got it?". I appreciated the fact that he as being brutally honest, but we all know that both Kacchan and I would have caused too much trouble in the office, he would have taken us out either way. Once we had told Endeavour that we understood that we should be 'grateful' he harumphed and began to walk away, I guess he was just assuming we knew that we had to follow him.
We followed the number 2 hero in silence. I'm sure Kacchan wouldn't have had a problem with complaining to Endeavour about the way he had been spoken to, but the atmosphere was just too awkward. It was difficult to start a conversation with anyone. We had been walking for roughly 10 minutes when my phone buzzed causing me to blush in embarrassment when everyone's eyes snapped to me. "Sorry," I whispered. I pulled out my phone and saw that both Papa and Dad had messaged me. I opened Dad's message first:
Dad: Did you arrive safely, Problem Child? Don't forget that if you have a nightmare you can call me.
Me: Yh, we arrived safely dad. I'll call you if anything happens, love u. xx
After responding to Dad's text I moved onto Papa's. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Todoroki looking down at my phone. Nosey much?
Papa: Hey Little Listener! Did you arrive safely! Message me back as soon as possible! I already miss you at home, how will I survive a week? Also, don't forget to call if you get into trouble, I'll be there in a heartbeat!
Me: Dw Papa! I'm safe here! You'll manage at home without me, you'll have Dad. I'll call if I get into trouble but I doubt that. Love u xx.
I quickly put my phone back in my pocket and focused on walking instead. It looked like we were nearing the Endeavour agency. "Once we get into the agency I'll be explaining what we'll be doing this week, then you will suit up and we'll leave." Endeavour explained briskly. Kacchan and I nodded whilst Todoroki just scoffed and rolled his eyes.
Todoroki, Kacchan and I were all stood in front of Endeavour's desk as he stared at all of us unnervingly. I wasn't going to say how uncomfortable he was making me feel. It would just be awkward. "OH MY LORD! ARE YOU GONNA START SPEAKING OR WHAT!" Kacchan shouted, clearly the silence was getting to him. I felt myself begin to sweat profusely as I watched Endeavours head slowly turn to Kacchan. His glare made me want to curl up in a ball and cry, but Kacchan didn't seem to be deterred if anything this only spurred him on more. He glared right back at Endeavour with the same (if not more) amount of anger and disgust in his gaze. It then occurred to me that Kacchan knew about Endeavour's less than favourable actions in the past and if there was one thing that Kacchan hated, it was an abusive person. Their glaring contest lasted a few more minutes before Endeavour finally decided to speak. "Whilst you're here I'm going to show you what a real hero does. As I'm sure you're aware, the hero killer, Stain, has popped up in Hosu. As the number two hero, it's my duty to apprehend him. Suit up, we leave for Hosu in an hour." Endeavour dismissed us immediately after that. I think getting glared at by a sixteen-year-old had made him a bit pissy.
"I just don't like the way he worded that. Sure as a hero, you have to go out and fight big threats and it makes sense that Endeavour would go to Hosu seeing as he's the number two hero, but it sounded to me as if he was discrediting heroes who help in smaller-scale crimes. Those heroes are just as important!" I ranted and raved to Kacchan as I pulled my jacket on. Since I finally had a hero name, the word 'Deviant' was printed on my back. Kacchan nodded along silently. He knew not to interfere when I got worked up with hero politics. I was very passionate when it came to talking about heroes. " Da- I mean Aizawa is an amazing hero and barely anyone knows about him. He's dealt with all sorts of people from back-alley rapists to buildings collapsing. He was even part of the child trafficking bust which happened two years ago! That got loads of coverage but he was barely mentioned. Plus, when they did mention him they called him Eraseface. That doesn't sound anything like Eraserhead!" I got really worked up when it comes to my dad. I had been told on several occasions that I needed to 'calm the fuck down'. You can probably tell who told me that. "Jeez Izu. We get it ok. Small crimes need to be taken care of as well as big crimes. Can we go now? That flaming asshole isn't going to want to wait." Kacchan sighed, used to my rants. I took a deep breath and nodded. When he saw that I had calmed down, Kacchan nodded and guided me out of the room. Todoroki walked out behind us, seemingly lost in his thoughts.
When we got back into Endeavour's office he was leaning against his desk waiting for us to arrive. "Good, you've arrived. We'll be taking the agencies bus into Hosu. The journey takes roughly 30 minutes. By the time we arrive, it'll be getting dark so stick close because I'm not looking for you should you get lost!" Endeavour barked. "Yes sir." we all muttered in synch. Endeavour nodded, satisfied with our answer before stomping out of the room. The three of us following him like baby ducks.
The ride to Hosu felt like it took an eternity. It was mainly due to the tense atmosphere between Endeavour and Todoroki. Endeavour would try to say something, Todoroki would brush him off and the cycle would continue. Kacchan and I could only observe awkwardly as the father and son argued and butted heads. Neither one of us wanted to start a conversation since we both knew it would be hard to sustain in such a hostile environment. I settled to watch buildings blur together as we passed them by. When we entered Hosu a weird chill went down my spine. I knew that the chill meant that something bad was going to happen in the area I was in. I was quick to memorise the closest sign. It said in bold white letters 'Hosu City Plaza'. I wasn't sure why I felt the need to memorise it, but I knew something bad would happen.
We spent a majority of the night just patrolling the streets. Checking alleyways, roofs and other out of view places for Stain. We didn't find him but we did encounter a few low-level thugs. Endeavour didn't concern himself with them, he told Kacchan, Todoroki and me to take them down. Whilst I was grateful for the experience, it kind of peeved me that Endeavour saw himself as too important to deal with them. I wished that my dad did internships, I would have run to him in a heartbeat, the knowledge I would have gained would have been invaluable for undercover missions. When the clock hit 10:30 pm and we had been out for roughly 5 and a half hours, Endeavour finally decided to call it a night. I was really thankful since my legs were really tired and I was having trouble keeping my eyes open.
It turned out that all three of us would be sleeping in a private meeting room at the agency. It seemed like a weird place for us to sleep but there were three separate sofas so I wasn't complaining. Kacchan and Todoroki were talking to each other (surprisingly). I was too tired to really listen to anything they were saying. I caught a few of their words in between the times when I nodded off for a second. It sounded like they had started off talking about how much of a dick Endeavour was but then moved on to talking about themselves in general. I smiled at the notion of them becoming closer friends. If my best friend/ brother and (hopefully) future boyfriend got along well, then I would truly be happy. I drifted into the land of nightmares before I could stop myself.
"Izuku!" Hisashi's voice bellowed. I curled up into a smaller ball as the monster's boot-clad feet marched past my hiding spot in the hallway cupboard. I knew I shouldn't have taken that extra piece of bread from mum. She was passed out from her beating. Her injuries looked worse than usual this time. Her hair wasn't normally dyed red with blood. I'd never seen her ankle at that angle before. I must have been breathing too loud because the booted feet marched back over to my hiding spot and the doors were yanked open to reveal the leering face of my tormenter. "Izuku," Hisashi sneered, "What have I said about eating more than I give you? Plus you're hiding. You know there's no hiding in this house.". I was grabbed by my hair and dragged down the hallway and into the kitchen. I assumed it was so that he could clean up the blood which I would inevitably spill. "You know you need punishing don't you. I am your father Izuku! You will listen to what I say! Got that?" Hisashi screamed in my ear. I flinched away from him slightly and nodded my head frantically. "You're useless! You'll never be anything! I'm ashamed that you even share the same blood as me!" Hisashi continued to yell. I knew what was coming, but I couldn't prepare myself for it. Hisashi's chest swelled and glowed orange before he bathed me with his flames. I shrieked in pain as the flesh on my back was charred and cooked on my bones. Even though I was only 5, I didn't want to live anymore. I wanted to fly high in the clouds. I knew Hisashi would never let that happen though.
I sat up with a jolt and looked around the room. I saw that I was in the meeting room at Endeavour's agency. I wasn't in my old house's kitchen. I looked over to the window to see that the sky was a beautiful array of colours. It was a spectrum of reds, yellows, pinks and purples. It took my breath away to see something so outstanding. "Are you ok, that looked like a nightmare." a stoic voice startled me. I whipped around to see Todoroki looking at me curiously. I nodded my head frantically, "I'm fine. Just... An unpleasant memory." I assured him, not delving into the details of said memory. Todoroki nodded slowly as he laid back down to sleep. I stared at him for a bit longer. It may seem creepy, but you would stare too if you saw Shoto Todoroki with bed head.
Sorry if this chapter doesn't seem the greatest. I had minor writer's block for the first half and I wrote the second half at 2 am on a school night when inspiration randomly hit. My sleeping schedule is fucked. Also, I'm sorry if the format of the texts seems a bit off, this was my first time attempting to write texts in a story.
Something I like: I liked the texts between Izuku and his dads. I also liked (this is gonna sound terrible) Izuku's nightmare, it shows that victims of abuse and violence are still affected by their past. Anyway, thank you for reading chapter 42 and I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are.