Midoriya really couldn't tell...
...-Mei how concerned he was about Valor becoming popular. He knew not everyone knew about Valor, and that if you asked random citizens maybe half wouldn't know what in tarnation you were on about, but it wasn't everyday citizens he was worried about.
He was more worried about the heroes and the police. Yes there was a possibility that everyday citizens could end up exposing him, but over his years of idolizing and studying hero work and heroes themselves, he noticed they tended to like to stay in the spotlight.
It made sense, their career depended on being the public's favor, but sometimes they went too far to stay popular. It's why he started to respect underground heroes like Eraserhead over his time as Valor.
He feared the heroes would try to get Valor directly, but then, if and when that fails, they would go after Mystery. That terrified Izuku. He didn't want to be the reason Mei got caught helping him.
Midoriya finally had an actual friend and he was going to protect her no matter what. He'd protect any friends he may make.
Sighing, Izuku sat on the rooftop.
Today was his first day patrol as Valor. Mei had suggested it after a recent spike in day crime in the area he usually patrolled at night.
'Plus,' she had said, 'it'll be easier to see what's going on in the camera footage.'.
So he'd spent the past hour avoiding heroes and stopping a guy from getting run over. It seemed like a calm day, so he decided to sit down for a moment.
"Hey-o! Valor~" A voice came in through his communications device. Mei giggled at the small hesitation from Midoriya, as Izuku was still getting used to hearing normal Mei one moment and then voice-changer Mei the next.
"Yes, Mystery?" He asked, emphasizing Mei's alias and chuckling through his own voice changer.
"There's a surprise in the hoodie pocket, I'm actually surprised you didn't see it yet." Mystery told him, and Valor furrowed his brows.
Searching in his pocket, his hands landed on something extremely familiar.
Oh my hero. Please don't tell me-
He was right. Pulling it out, there was a fruit punch caprisun.
"Mystery-" He chuckled and interrupted himself, "What the fudge."
"That's a cop-out for fuck. Just say fuck." Meri urged him.
"Frick."
"No-" Before Mei could continue her laughter-filled lecture on getting Midoriya to swear, a faded child-like scream echoed through the streets. People walking on the sidewalk froze and looked around or walked quicker towards their destination in fear that there may be a villain.
"We'll continue this later, go help whoever that is." Mei told him, suddenly a lot less joyful.
He stuffed the caprisun in his pocket and pushed off of the roof with his bo staff. He ran toward the sound until he heard it again, this time a whole lot closer.
He turned down a street to see people either fleeing or recording with a news team.
Looking foreword to where the cameras were directed, Izuku caught sight of a little boy quivering in a corner and a man, almost seven feet tall and buffer than Death Arms, standing in the middle of the dead-ended street.
The man's eyes were crazed and he laughed as if he had the entire world to laugh at. Midoriya felt chills run down his spine. This man seemed dangerous.
"Elliot! Please stop!"
Izuku looked over and notices a civilian that hadn't run like the rest. Tears streamed down her face and her eyes were flickering between the man and the boy, who was out of reach of everyone.
The woman gripped her sleeves and fell to her knees.
So his name is Elliot.
"This isn't like you!" Her voice was weak and if she hadn't been trying to yell at him, Midoriya was sure he wouldn't have heard it, "Please just calm down! He doesn't even know what he did!"
Valor looked around the street and tried to piece together what he knew.
Elliot must be the name of the man. He'd lost it, for sure. Over something 'he' did. By the way he he was standing, he was stopping the kid from being brought to safety on purpose, so the kid must have done something. The kid looks about the age of five, maybe he just got his quirk and had an accident.
That would make sense. When people first get their quirks, quirk accidents are extremely common, unfortunately.
Right now, Midoriya was trying to figure out the best way to take out the man without endangering the little boy.
He moved over to the woman, she knew more about this than he did, and he could use that knowledge. Keeping part of his attention on the side-view of Elliot, he tapped her shoulder.
The woman jumped at his touch and whipped around. She didn't seem to recognize him, "A-are you a hero?" She sniffled, constantly looking back to Elliot and the boy, "Listen, I'm not leaving- I can't- leave him- I just-"
"I'm not going to drag you away, okay, calm down." His voice was soft. This poor woman didn't deserve him raising his voice. She seemed thrown off by his distorted voice but nodded, looking back to Elliot as she spoke.
"He's gone, Elliot's- Elliot is the man- there- Elliot's grandfather, and- hicc- it was James' quirk- it's not a dangerous one, it's- James' quirk- it's to create shields- but- but- he used it- and it created one ac- hicc- across the house and it cut through Elliot's grandpa- hicc- and- and-" Her speech was stuttered and everywhere as she tried to stifle her sobs.
Izuku shushed her and rubbed her back, still looking at Elliot and James. That sounded brutal, even for a quirk accident.
He walked foreword and decided trying to talk the man down was the safer option for the kid. After all, he didn't know Elliot's quirk and he wasn't sure if he asked the woman she'd respond in understandable words.
"Elliot!" He called, glancing at James, who sat in the corner with his hands over his head, similar to an American tornado drill position. The man's eyes snapped to him and he stopped his crazed laugh.
"What- who are you- ya punk?" He snarled, moving foreword. The man was intimidatingly tall and buff, maybe that was his quirk. Still, Izuku couldn't be sure. He knew that being seen as a threat to someone with some form of hostage was one of the stupidest things you could do.
Izuku tried to stall a bit for time, "Listen, why don't you tell me why you're mad right now?" He asked, loudly, but in his kindest voice he had for someone currently talking through a distortion voice changer.
Elliot growled, "This fucking-"
"Language" Midoriya muttered under his breath out of habit, not loud enough for Elliot to overhear.
"-useless child! He killed a man! And I'm in the wrong here, I'd bet you say! He's the murderer!" He screamed.
Elliot hadn't stopped moving in on Valor, and he brought a fist up. Pushing himself away from his punch with his staff, Izuku tried to calm him down, "Sir, let's talk about this-"
Before he could finish his sentence, Elliot lunged at the vigilante.
He ducked to the right and decided to lead Elliot away from James, who was still in the corner, scared and confused.
Moving towards the turn in the street, Valor continued to let Elliot aim for him, dodging at the last moment and moving farther away from the boy.
Before he could get a good distance away to engage safely, a heat emerged from his left and a pain shot through his arm. Screams from the people with cameras and the woman from earlier rang out as they scrambled away from the new blinding red light.
Both Elliot and Valor backed away from the flames and stopped at the new threat to them both.
Two figures shadowed beyond the flames, one of them very obviously the source of it. The source was big and tall, the other standing back, as if they didn't want to be involved.
"James! Protect James, the flames are headed right toward him and they're spreading fast!" Mei's changed voice screamed in his comms. Midoriya couldn't find it in him to be annoyed at the yelling in his ears as he dashed through the side of the flames towards where James had been.
He could see the boy trying to scoot away from the heat to no avail, as he was already in the corner. The fire may not have charred his gear, as Mei had made it fire resistant, but the skin underneath sizzled in a rage of pain as the fire licked his skin, creeping up through the exposed skin between his gloves and hoodie sleeves.
Getting ever closer to James, Valor squinted through the tears of pain. He had to get to James. He had to help James.
A blue tint around the boy became clear as he moved close.
'it was James' quirk- it's not a dangerous one, it's- James' quirk- it's to create shields-'
His quirk acted in self defense! Thank whatever god there may or may not be it did, as the flames seemed to move just as fast as the vigilante. Right before the flames reached him- whether it could melt the shield, Midoriya wasn't sure- Valor got to James.
Valor slid to his knees in front of the kid, "James! Hold onto me, I'll get you out of here!" He yelled through the chaos.
The boy's black eyes looked to the Vigilante, then to the flames, which creeped ever-so-closer, and then to Elliot's fading figure across the street.
James reached up with shaky arms and his shield glitched away. Valor nearly screamed in relief. If James had hesitated a bit longer they'd both be in serious trouble.
Valor swept the boy up and held him close, using the landings on the building next to them to run upwards.
Everything seemed to slow- to blur, really- in Valor's vision. His arms burned and then numbed. The fire got farther and farther away, but the burns Midoriya had undoubtedly got running through it earlier didn't register the distance.
Still, he kept pushing upwards through the searing pain, gripping the small boy against his chest.
Finally, they reached the roof and he set James down. Quickly looking him over, the only wound he saw was a small bruise Midoriya had seen earlier on his cheek. Sighing in relief, he put his hand on James' shoulder.
The boy looked up, tears streaming down his face and his eyes were wide. The fire below danced in the reflection of his irises.
"Hey, buddy, I know this is scary. I'm going to need you to be really brave and stay here and wait for help- can you do that for me?" He asked softly, although the voice changer didn't help.
James couldn't answer in words, if he did, it wouldn't have made much sense through his sobs. He nodded shakily, letting go of his death grip on Izuku's sleeve. He balled up again and looked as if he was trying to pretend none of this was happening.
That poor kid.
Looking over the edge of the roof, Valor looked down at the man who started the fire.
'Fricking Endeavor. I'm going to stab him for nearly killing me and the kid with his fudging stupid ash quirk.' Izuku semi-cussed in his mind as he ran to the side of the building rooftop that wasn't beside the flames.
Jumping down, still in mind-numbing pain, Valor stumbled towards the fight.
Valor moved around the flames as quietly as he could, which wasn't very quiet as his feet ached and burned, but it didn't matter with the deafening sounds of Elliot's angered yelling and the whoosh of the flames.
He went behind Endeavor and the big man didn't seem to notice. The teen- it was obvious he was young like Valor- noticed but didn't warn Endeavor of the vigilante behind him.
Izuku swing the bo staff foreword and towards Endeavor's head. Had it hit, it would have knocked the man out, but the man's reflexes were too good. Made sense, he was the number two hero.
He ducked under the staff and twirled around, glaring at the vigilante. A small smirk crossed him as he caught sight of the burns and blood on Valor's exposed skin.
"Valor, I see you go caught up in the flames? I was aiming for the villain, but it seems I caught two." His tone was condescending and rude.
Midoriya resisted his urge to cry out in pain, "You nearly burned a child! I'd say you should think before you act, but I'm pretty sure you need a brain to act!" He yelled. It was much more aggressive intended, but he couldn't be bothered to hide his rage at this point.
The man nearly burned a child!
'If he's so quick to blindly throw his fire around, who knows how many other children he indirectly burns on a regular basis.' Midoriya joked to himself. Sort of.
You can never be sure, really.
Endeavor's smirk fell, replaced by a 'holier-than-thou' scowl, "You're a criminal, now come with me peacefully, Valor." He said.
Midoriya faked a gasp and looked behind the hero, "Endeavor watch out!" He shrieked, backing away as if there were any threat other than Endeavor himself and Elliot, who was on the other side of the flames.
Endeavor, ever the idiot he was, whipped around and moved to a fighting stance. Before he could even fully stop his spin, Midoriya whacked him with his staff.
Thud!
And there went Endeavor.
"He's so sleepy." Midoriya said quietly, patting the man's hair as he laid on the ground.
"In pieces." Mei added with a snicker.
"Don't worry, Mystery, he's alive. I'd never waste my first mandatory murder on a flaming pile of garbage." He said, laughing before wincing as the pain synced with his heartbeat.
Twirling around, Midoriya was about to detain Elliot and get Mei to call the fire department when he caught sight of the teenager.
He'd noticed him before, but he hadn't really noticed him. The teen seemed split down the middle, his dual-colored white and red hair separating his left and right. A scar crossed his eye on his left, looking old, but it hadn't faded with time.
His stoic face showed no remorse for the man he'd appeared with. Looking between the hero and the vigilante, the teen seemed to realize he'd caught Valor's attention.
"Hi." He said, not moving an inch from his spot.
"Hello." Valor responded.
A moment of silence.
"Can I touch your hair?" Valor asked. Really, he'd lost all coherent thoughts. The pain was overwhelming now, and instead of sentences his brain thought in screams.
The two-toned boy paused to think before responding, "I'd rather you didn't." He said simply, and Valor nodded in understanding.
"Understandable, have a nice day." He said, dashing off towards Elliot to detain him. This would've been over way sooner if it weren't for Endeavor, really.
Elliot tried to punch him, but he seemed thrown off by his own burns on his legs. He stumbled and Valor merely pushed him foreword swiftly. He sat on Elliot's back and held his arms behind him, pulling the zip-ties out and tying them tight around his wrists.
The rest of the process was simple and as usual, although Valor had to leave sooner. He didn't want to be found with Endeavor's sleepy body.
He'd brought the boy down from the roof and kept him a street away from the fire. The boy seemed to have stopped crying, but he also seemed in shock. James wouldn't answer Valor, but Valor couldn't stay for long.
Instead, he set the boy down and put his Caprisun beside him. After all, the poor boy probably needed it more than Valor. He asked Mei to inform the police or fire department of where the boy was and raced back to the shed, eager to get his burns treated.
Eventually, Mei helped him patch himself up with her limited first aid experience. They agreed Valor would take a short break as Midoriya healed and they decided to edit the video and record the end bit instead of his night patrol that night.
The scene of fire dancing in front of them as Valor zip-tied the man's wrists faded into nothing, a black screen filling in.
"Well." Valor's voices flooded the audio, a pained chuckle following.
Mystery giggled, "Yeah- not sure what to start with, really." The two laughed, although there was no joke told.
"I guess we could start with it's only the second video and I'm already taking a break." Valor stated. You could practically have heard the eye roll.
Mystery scoffed, "Not really your fault, I'd say Endeavor needs to better regulate his quirk! You wouldn't even be hurt if he hadn't endangered-" The androgynous voice was cut off by a 'bleep!' where the little boy from the video's name should have been.
A moment of silence before Valor burst laughing, "You can't just say his name, Mystery! He's a citizen!"
"Oh, shit." Mystery laughed through the microphone.
"Language." Valor countered.
"Japanese."
"Mm? I despise you." Valor said sarcastically. Mystery giggled again and a chair squeaked, "Says the one with burns. I could punch you in the arm right now and you'd lose. I'd win."
"Beat me while I'm down, will you?" Valor faked a hurt sounding voice. Mystery went silent for a moment.
"Opinions on Endeavor before we cut off this bit?" They asked. Someone fiddled with something in the background.
"He's fudging stupid." Valor said, as seriously as you can when saying 'fudging'.
"Just say fuck! Please!" And with Mystery's desperate cry, the video cut off.
{2993 Words}
{Unedited}