Still thinking of a name for this one, this is a placeholder, teehee
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As he sat on his bed, the building anticipation and fear for the coming events started to gather inside of him. He had planned it out for tonight. It had started to get dark out and everyone would start to head to their rooms soon. He was actually doing this.
With a few pats to the face to get his head in it, he stood up and went over to his closet, pulling the door to the side to reveal the interior. He had an outfit laid out inside, including his hero shoes he had smuggled into his room. He pulled out the individual pieces of the whole and set them on his bed. Bit by bit, he changed into this outfit, pulling a rather poorly made mask over the lower part of his face. He had made some of these parts by himself and had even customized some as well. As cool as it would be to go for a traditional hero look, since he was planning to do good things, he had to be stealthy for this, so the classic dark colors had to do.
With a tug at his pant sleeves to assure they covered his shoes, he prepared himself to go. He made his way to his door-like window. Sweeping the colorful curtains, he silently unlocked and opened one section of the window, popping his head out to look around. He could see the other windows of nearby dorms, most with shutter curtains. The only one with slight light coming from it was above on the fourth floor, and it was dull, so hopefully it wasn't going to be a problem. The wall around the dorm building ended at almost the perfect height for Deku to step out onto, and he did with ease. He balanced himself and looked out at the surrounding area, recalling the map of surveillance he had studied for tonight. He memorized any areas with cameras or technological triggers that could alert staff or others.
Enacting on his planned path, he slid down the other side of the wall and started his run to leave, weaving through the trees and holes in the surveillance. It all seemed to be working rather perfectly as of yet, which helped calm the nerves that still lingered in his stomach. He finally reached the outer walls of the entire area. He took a breath as he scanned up the sizable wall. He crouched, charging some dull energy in his legs, then leapt, keeping his body rather tucked together while also being careful which areas of the top of the wall he touched if any at all. With a slight push-off with the tip of his foot from the corner of the wall, he landed safely on the other side. It felt a little nice to be out of the school area. There he knew the camera locations. He was sure there were plenty of other ways to watch him from here to his destination, but at the least he wouldn't be so aware of those.
He gripped the sides of his hood and jerked them forward, assuring that his head was covered as he walked down the sidewalk and across the street towards the lab. He repeated the plan in his mind as he walked the streets. People would pass by in groups of a few, all seeming close to each other or having casual conversations with intervals of laughter.
At some point in his walk he realized he was taking a lot longer on his travel than he had intended. Maybe he had thought he would be faster.. He lifted his head in a cautious motion, looking for quicker ways to get there and thinking. His gaze met the corner of a roof on a nearby shop. A rather short one too. He would be able to climb that height with a good jump. From there he could easily get to the roof of the next one and be there faster.
With a quick shift of gaze to keep his face downward, he swerved into an alley and studied the building wall ahead. He grabbed to the top of a dumpster and pulled himself onto it, balancing before crouching and jumping up. The wind was cold the higher up he got. With a swift motion of his hand, he grabbed the edge of the roof and stopped his fall. He grabbed with his other hand and scraped with his feet to pull himself up again. He stood himself up on the roof of the small shop and brushed himself off, aware he would have to do this again for the next building.
He mounted the next wall in a similar fashion, taking a moment to regain his energy, before examining the next rooftop. This was slightly lower than this one. This is where it would get easier. The heights were averaged out the rest of the way. He backed up then ran, hopping to the next roof and continuing on. He felt chilled as the night air pressed against his unprotected cheeks. The force of his jumping against his hair kept pushing his hood off of his head. He didn't worry about that now.
It felt like a movie or something.. Not quite real. He almost spaced out thinking about it, but noticed that the next few buildings led up to his final stop. He hopped the next few gaps before skidding to a halt on the roof of the lab. This was it.
He observed the small shed-like entrance a few feet away as he approached it. The door was locked with an old fashioned lock that required a specific key. For a lab that specified in such useful information in a world of superpowered people who could use that for evil, he had expected more. However, in that same world these powers would most likely be able to surpass whatever securities you put in place anyway. That weird portal guy from the league of villains could just portal anyone in there, and who knows how many people have similar powers.
He grabbed the lock and scanned its golden spray painted exterior then charged up his hand and crushed it, leaving the hook that attached it to the door handle hanging there with nothing to hold. He dropped the remains and kicked them aside then pulled out the metal piece, opening up the door. Ahead lay a dark stairway leading down to a room that appeared very scarcely lit.
He put gentle efforts into each step he took down the stairs to make sure he was as quiet as possible. As he reached the bottom, he peered around the wall that opened to the main area to inspect what lay ahead. This space was empty of people and held orderly desks arranged in repetitive patterns. Each held papers, pens and other common office supplies along with personalized items that belonged to the researcher that worked there.
Looking to the source of the light, Deku noticed the figures of people through wall windows and the slightly ajar door of a neighboring room. The lights in there were on and the people inside talked in calm tones to each other as they worked on whatever it was they were doing. He couldn't see the features of the staff from this angle, but it didn't matter. As long as he was quiet and stuck to this room, he shouldn't have a problem.
He crouched and kept his figure low as he headed to inspect the desks. A lot of these desks had similar papers, some with studies and data that hadn't been finished yet. He recognized titles such as 'Emitter Quirks and Causes for their Frequency' and 'At Birth vs Developed Mutant Quirks'. None of them were completed even on the pages they were written on, and none covered what he wanted.
He focused his attention next on a metallic cabinet of sorts pressed against a dark wall. It contained two side-opening doors that would reveal a wide interior on the top half, and pull out drawers on the lower half. Each handle had a place to insert a key below them, however one of the lower drawers showed a dark sliver that revealed it was still unlocked and open. A researcher had probably accessed it recently and not closed it all the way.
He wedged his gloved fingers inside the space and silently attempted to pull the drawer open. Inside, two thin wires ran from end to end on opposite sides, holding up specially shaped files, organized alphabetically by titles. Each file seemed to contain all sorts of papers such as descriptions of the topics, hypotheses and data for experiments and surveys they held. Some had solid conclusion pages.
Deku flipped through the titled files, trying to find one that matched what he was looking for, and stopped at one rather far back and alone with the words 'Medical Quirk Removal; Safe and Possible?'. He skimmed the introduction page as it described the intent of this research; to find ways to remove quirks and to identify when it was and was not possible or safe for the subject. It also put out some concepts on uses for this ability if mastered. The stapled packets of papers in this file felt smaller than those in other ones he had seen. It hadn't been as researched, or perhaps they hadn't gotten far with it. He hoped for neither of these as he snatched it up.
"No, see? I told you it wouldn't be safe and it said so right there." He heard one of the voices starting to get nearer. One of them was leaving the room, appearing to have just paused at the doorway to retort to someone else.
"Right but you didn't have to dig all the way through those papers just to dig up some old experiment to prove that." Another softer voice responded jokingly.
Realizing why the drawer was open, Midoriya quickly tried to push the drawer back to the position it had been in and scurried to hide himself under a desk, bumping his head on it slightly as he did. He heard the researcher coming close and saw their shoes and neat black pants as they stopped in front of the cabinet. They pulled open the drawer and mumbled something as they pushed around the papers inside.
"Where does this darn thing go anyway? I thought I left the spot empty..." It sounded like a woman's voice, as he could hear it more clearly now. She rested a hand on the drawer as she faced back to the other room. "Are any of you trying to pull something on me, moving the papers around?"
"Um, no." Another voice replied, clearer now, most likely another person entering the area from the other. "We were all in there the whole time. You would have seen us leave. Why? You think they got messed around?" Deku tried to calm himself down, but he was starting to tense up and panic. A wave of nervous chills was started to pass through him.
"I mean, a little. It could be nothing, but when I take these out I like to leave the file open so I can find it again when I'm done. Maybe it's just me." She seemed a little more unsure of herself as she explained.
"Think it could be a ghost?" Joked the second voice, which sounded more like a guy.
"Oh shut up!" The first one sighed out with a hint of amusement she wouldn't want to admit.
Deku could see the second researcher's legs and feet now as he moved to stand behind the first and lean on the desk he was hiding under.
"But really! The papers moving around on their own when the drawer was that shut? Creepy stuff." The guy continued on with his hypothesis.
"I don't need this from you. If anything were to have happened to them, it would probably be some intruder or something looking for stuff, and that suggests that I'm not just imagining things." She closed the drawer and the sound of it locking made a subtle 'tkk'.
"Why are we arguing in here?" Another feminine voice, higher than the first one came from the same area. Deku was just trying to hold out, hoping they would dismiss it and leave.
"Oh I thought some files moved and he's trying to freak me out about it." The first explained casually, soon coming to lean on the desk as well. By now, the guy they spoke of was practically sitting on it.
"We were supposed to be focusing on that suspicious quirk residue, remember?" The newer voice reminded, sounding just as far away as the last time.
"Yeah we'll get back to it. What's so wrong about taking just a bit to talk about the office ghost?" The guy posed the question in a sly way.
"Because there is no ghost and that stuff back there could be dangerous." The first lady started to focus herself back to her work, organizing some papers she must have accidentally mixed around when she started leaning on the desk.
In a horrifying split second, Deku watched as a small, red paperclip fell off the edge of the table. It landed with hardly a sound on the carpeted floor. He held himself still a moment, hoping that she hadn't noticed it fall. He could feel each and every second after drag on him like dull hooks in his back.
"There." The woman said as she reordered the sheets on the desk. "Now let's get back to work then." Deku felt the beginnings of relief as she took her first step away, but it all crashed down a moment after.
"You dropped something." The guy said, pointing at the paperclip.
"Did I? I hadn't noticed.." She pulled her foot back to where it had been before as she bent herself over to retrieve it. In that quick moment, she lifted her gaze up slightly to match her green eyes with his and ruined everything.
It could have been the particularly silent moment that made his shaky breathing more noticeable, or the slight slip of his shoe that led to the woman looking under the desk when she could have just simply grabbed the clip and moved on, but something did it, and now it was panic.
"Oh my god! Someone's under there!" The girl frantically cried out as she stood up and stumbled back, dropping the paperclip she had just retrieved.
"What??" The man stood and whirled around to face the table he had been sitting on, leaning down to look.
Footsteps of the third person grew louder and closer as they approached to see what was going on. It was all falling to some sort of chaos. He was unsure what to do. He felt like a scared cat. He shook it off and started to react, grabbing hold of the sides of the table and spinning it around to block them from seeing him properly then pushed it forward against the wall they stood by. They had managed to step aside in time to avoid being hit by the desk, and all of them were glad for that.
He stood and held to the file, climbing onto the other desks to hurry away towards the stairs. Just as he slid off the last desk near the stairway, a shout broke out of the other panicked voices.
"Stop right there!" A short, pink-haired lady with bright red glasses stood near the desks he had just stepped off of. It was the third voice he had heard. She extended her hand and without any hesitance it stretched into a large, liquid-like branch. It reached out and stuck to the wall in front of him and hardened immediately into a skin-colored tree branch of sorts. It covered from the ground almost to the roof and would be inconvenient to climb even if he could fit through the top. There were holes in it, but they were small and it seemed pretty sturdy when he tested it with a light push. The stairs were past it. She had blocked his way out.
"I'll gett'm!" The guy tried to assure the panicking other woman with long, blond hair who had just pressed herself to the wall. He rushed over to grab Deku, which he managed to narrowly avoid, and instead grabbed his hand and pushed him to the wall.
The man took a moment to shake off and stretch his hand. "You're stronger than you look.."
"Stop talking to him and just restrain him!" The pink haired lady shouted orders. "Get the file back! And Choku! Call the police!"
The taller blond lady nodded and shakily pulled out a phone, turning around to call.
While Deku was focusing on the instructions she had given and trailing his gaze to this Choku person, the guy returned with a swing at his face, which actually landed. The quick moving nature of the events was distracting him. He stumbled back slightly and shook his head.
"Didn't see that one did ya?" He kept his comments to a murmur as to not be yelled at again.
Deku knew he had fought stronger people than him. With a charged, swift pounce that threw himself to the wall, he positioned himself and bounced back from there and kicked the man down. It seemed to hit pretty hard, and as he collapsed from the blow, Izuku hesitated and reached a hand to see if he was okay, before seeing him grumble and cover the injured part of his face and pulling it back.
The pink haired researcher was alarmed by this, and stretched her other arm to box him in, splitting him and his opponent apart. He could hear the frantic conversation going on on the other side. They felt a little better not being able to see him. They were sure they had trapped him. The wall here however was almost entirely glass, and provided a view of the city below. There would be police there soon. He would have to act.
He held tight to the papers and backed himself up, focusing his attention on the building across the street. He would have to hope he would be able to land there.. He bent himself down against the wall of arm material behind him, pressing a shoe against it. He charged up his feet and tried to regain his confidence. He placed one hand on the carpet and held to it as if it would help him. He counted down to himself. This was a risky move.
3...
He could hear the short woman talking to the man, asking if he was alright.
2...
The blond one was still trying to explain the situation, but would break through it to say a soft 'yes' or 'no' to the other end.
1...
Silence for just a moment.
He kicked himself off, shooting forward. He closed his eyes for a second to ignore the impact of his entire body with the glass. The sound of it breaking to pieces over his body flooded his ears even after he could feel the cold wind of the outside. He spent what felt like a small eternity there, floating above the city street, trying to keep a grip on all of the papers while aiming at the roof of the building. In this small moment in time, he prepared himself then rolled as he tried not to crash onto the surface of his destination.
Even with his best attempts seeming to do him well, he ended up kind of laying down by the end of his roll. His body hurt, but he had made it. The air felt even colder than he remembered. The sirens of the police cars were approaching. He would have to head out pretty quickly
He forced himself into a sit, looking down to see the papers rather roughly still kept in the file. Some appeared halfway fallen out, but they were there. He couldn't say if they all were there, but it appeared a good amount were still with him.
His first attempt to get up led to his legs failing him, but with some determination he tried again and stood himself up. He didn't have the time to marvel at what he had just done, he had to leave, now. He could see the lights turning on at the floor of the building he had escaped as well as the arm-walls shrinking away. The people there were peering out of the hole.
He hurried and hopped to the roof next to him, tracing his path here from the opposite side of the street. His mind felt blank now. It hadn't felt that way in a long time. He may have been too cold, too sore, too astounded or too much of some other thing, but something about all that left him unsure what words could properly express what he felt. That was a real crime. Something he had done. The police were there. He wasn't sure how to feel about it.
Jumping past the wall, slipping through the foliage, and making his way back to his dorm felt so much easier, so much more mindless, drowned out by the preceding events. Holding the files with his mouth for just a moment, he climbed up the dorm building wall and back into the window he had left open. He landed in his room again. Quiet. Safe. Grabbing the files, he finally had a chance to look down at them.
The orange file, once so neat and flawless had careless folds and occasional tears on it. The papers jutted out on random sides, and some of the sheets were half torn from their staples. Yet somehow they were here. He had done it. This was what he would need.
He slid his mask off with relief and examined it. The fabric was torn from the fragments of glass and had slight stains on it, hardly noticeable with the black color. He felt the stains. Fresh. He reached to gently touch his face and realized after the sharp sting of pain that he was bleeding. Of course he was. He had jumped through a glass window.
He set the file on his desk and shook himself off in case any clinging glass pieces were still there. He had basically totaled this outfit now. He threw the hoodie onto the bed and felt over the long, oddly precise tears in the build. Luckily his shirt only had small holes he could dismiss as a washing incident. The scratches of his face however would be a bit harder. Some of them felt deeper than he was comfortable with.
He could figure out a way to mend his clothes, but explaining his condition to everyone else would be harder. In the meantime, he grabbed the mask, hoodie, and all the rest and shoved them into the depths of his closet for now. He could handle that later. For the time being, he would have to rest. As much as he would love to get right into reading this data, he also needed to treat these wounds and sleep. He couldn't show up to classes looking such a mess while also being so tired he couldn't function.
Taking a few small, white bandages from a box in a drawer of his desk, he applied them to his cuts from where he could spot them in a small mirror he had. He finished up and closed the box, putting it away. He looked himself over in the mirror. All of the cuts seemed to focus on his face, and one or two remaining on his hands. He needed to figure out a reason for this, but in the middle of his contemplation he was interrupted by a yawn. He looked over at the file, admiring it for a second before putting it away in his drawer under some comics. He shut it and made his way to his bed, laying down and mumbling softly to himself.
In a single motion of laying down, all the forced energy he had mustered to escape left him, and he realized how utterly exhausted he truly was. Everything was tired, and everything hurt. Within moments of closing his eyes, he was asleep.