July

Training continued as per usual. Their days would begin hours before sunrise and they would only head back to camp when the sky was once again dark. Hiking and swimming became daily activities and, in addition, Izuku had to take over dispatching the animals they ate. He'd cried the first three times, terrified that he'd do something wrong and just extend the creature's misery, but by the end of their first week he was able to do it as fast as Stain.

At one point Izuku had suggested that they move their camp closer to the river they frequented and, to his surprise, his mentor agreed. They settled close enough to come and go more easily, but not close enough that so random campers would come across them by accident. Not that they ever came across another human being, but still.

The river meant not only drinking water but also a way for them to clean their clothes, which Izuku was beyond grateful for. Both his pants and shirt were stiff with dirt and sweat and his shoes had gone from red to a muddy black, everything in dire need of a wash.

The first time Izuku had cleaned his clothes, he'd felt almost like he was on a camping trip. The sun was shining and the birds were singing and he had some time to relax and clean himself while his clothes dried on a nearby tree. If he closed his eyes and relaxed, he could almost imagine this being a school field trip. By now he'd gotten used to how cold the river was and he had no problem staying in the water for a while.

Still, he couldn't take too long so he climbed out after thirty minutes and got dressed, his clothes warm and soft from the sunlight. He felt better than he had in weeks when he went back to camp and Stain left so he too could wash his clothes.

Izuku was writing in his notebook when Stain returned and the teen didn't lift his eyes from his page.

"Did you check the traps while I was gone?" The older man asked.

"No, but I'll do it right nooOOW?!" Izuku looked up and came face to face with Stain. His mask and bandana were gone, his hair down and his nose -or lack thereof- in plain view. Izuku knew Stain was missing his nose, it was obvious by the way his mask wrapped around his face, but the teen had never seen it. The very top of the cartilage was still there, but below that, there was just an uneven hole surrounded by scar tissue.

He stared like an idiot for the grand total of five seconds before his better judgment had the chance to kick in, but it had been five seconds too long. Stain looked anything but happy and Izuku had to look at the ground to keep himself from panicking.

Scratch that, he was panicking regardless.

"I, um, I'll go check the traps right now! I can do it by myself, I'll be back later, bye!" He sputtered, scrambling to his feet and bolting in a random direction as fast as he could. Only one of the traps had caught something and Izuku was heading back to camp much earlier than he wanted. Stain was going to kill him, he was sure.

"It just caught me by surprise!" Izuku told himself, feeling his cheeks heating up. He had no idea if apologizing would be better or worse and he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep his cool when he saw the light of the fire behind some trees.

Stain was thankfully gone and Izuku let out a long sigh of relief. He busied himself with making dinner and writing while he waited and when Stain came back he had to fight the part of his brain that told him to just run off into the woods and never return. The mask was back on and Izuku felt terrible.

They sat in silence, Stain glaring at Izuku ever so often and the teen very pointedly looking at anything other than his mentor.

Say something, you coward, Izuku thought after an hour of tense quietness and he swallowed hard, his mouth feeling dry.

"Um, Stain?"

"What?"

Panic immediately took over.

"I'm sorry, I just… I knew! I did, I just, I'd never… It just caught me off guard, I… I'm an idiot!"

"No shit."

Izuku fidgeted where he was, his eyes looking around himself nervously. They looked at each other for a long time before Stain sighed and rolled his eyes. He didn't look as mad anymore, which was great.

"Just spit it out already." Stain said dryly.

Izuku swallowed and blushed as red as a tomato.

"...What happened?" He asked meekly.

"I cut it off after a fight." Stain responded slowly and it took Izuku a good while to even register the words.

"You… what?"

"You heard me."

"But… Huh? Why?!"

"No more questions." Stain snapped, glaring at Izuku with enough intensity to shut the teen up for good. Izuku made a mental note to not ever ask about it again.

August

The heat was at its worst at this time of year and training felt even more draining than before. More than once Izuku had felt close to passing out during their sparring sessions and he would take any excuse to move the training to the river. Being in the water was delicious, even if outside the humidity was too high to tolerate most of the time.

Nighttime was when Izuku was the most active, the refreshing breeze allowing him to work more comfortably. Stain still made him train during the day, but even he seemed to prefer leaving the heaviest work for after dusk.

Every day Izuku would head out to check half of their working traps and gather as much wood as he could in his backpack, go back to camp, eat, train and rest. It might not seem like much, but it was more than enough to take the whole day, especially now that Izuku could train for longer without needing to take a long break.

He'd noticed how his muscles had gotten the tiniest bit defined and he had a hard time not looking at his arms and smiling. He was proud of himself, he couldn't lie. Stain had surely taken notice as well since training hours kept getting longer and longer with each passing day.

Izuku had gotten comfortable enough to ask Stain random questions about himself, even if he rarely got a straight answer. He still liked questioning his teacher about what his life had been prior to him becoming the Hero Killer.

"Do you have any siblings?" Izuku had asked one night out of the blue.

"No." Stain had answered, not even turning to look at his apprentice.

"What about your parents?"

"They're dead."

"Oh…" then, after a pause, "What happened to them?"

"You're awfully talkative tonight." Stain said in a monotone and Izuku blushed slightly.

"Is that bad? I just wanted to know more about you…"

"My life from before doesn't hold any relevance. Neither does yours, for that matter." Stain explained coldly and Izuku hummed in response, shifting his gaze up at the stars and biting his lip thoughtfully. He wanted to ask more questions, but he didn't want to irritate his mentor. Still, curiosity nagged at him.

"...Can I ask about stuff from the present?"

"If you must," Stain sighed.

"How many knives do you have on you?"

"Twenty-two not counting the katana."

"Why would you need so many?!"

"You'd be surprised, kid."

The morning of the 22nd (according to his calendar) Izuku had been walking through the forest to set a new trap somewhere since the ones they had were proving to be insufficient. The sun was barely rising above the horizon and the air was nice and fresh from the rain that had fallen throughout the night.

He walked quietly, not wanting to break the picture-perfect morning surrounding him. He crouched next to a shrub and got to setting the new trap in silence. He was halfway done when he heard a gentle noise ahead of him and he looked up without moving his head.

A few feet ahead of him, just past the bush where he was working, was a deer. The animal was sniffing along the ground, it's spotted back illuminated by the early light and making it shine. Izuku stared, dumbfounded. He didn't dare move a muscle in fear of scaring the creature off. The doe took a few steps closer, grazing on some grass before her large black eyes focused on Izuku.

She stared at the boy, unsure, and sniffing the air to judge if he was a threat or not. The teen smiled gently as if the animal would be able to understand such a gesture, and breathed as slowly as he could. The animal tilted it's head almost curiously, took a step back, and made her way back into the forest and silently as she had appeared.

Izuku sat down where he was for the next fifteen minutes without moving, his small smile still plastered on his face even when he made his way back to camp. He wrote about his encounter but said nothing to Stain for some reason that he couldn't quite explain. He wanted to keep that moment to himself.

That was the first and only time he came across a deer in the woods while Stain and he stayed out in the wild.

September

With the heat finally going down, Izuku was able to get his day training done without complaint. He could keep up with Stain during hikes and he could even manage to land two throwing knives next to each other after a few tries. When they sparred, Izuku was able to stay on his feet for full minutes, Stain had even started using his quirk against him just to keep him on his toes, and the blade of the katana would come much closer to Izuku's body every time. Stain wasn't holding back as much.

Izuku had gotten so used to their routine that some nights when he couldn't sleep, he left camp and trained on his own for a few hours before returning to rest. He was so accustomed to everything being like this that he was shocked when Stain told him they'd be leaving for the city soon.

They'd been by the river, Izuku washing a blood stain from his shirt when his teacher had given him the news.

"Where are we going?" Izuku had asked, surprised.

"Toyama. Just like before." and then, after he gave Izuku an unreadable look, "I think you're ready."

Those words hit Izuku like a truck. He felt a mixture of pride, excitement, anxiety, and fear all at once and he had to turn his face away to hide whatever weird expression he was probably making. Was he really ready? He felt stronger, both in mind and body, but he still felt unprepared somehow.

He'd been out there for months, training and learning, and a tiny part of him wanted things to stay like they were forever. He was happy like this. But he knew Stain wanted to get back to work sooner rather than later. The Hero Killer was known for taking long breaks between attacks, but Stain didn't strike Izuku like the type to take many vacations.

Izuku and Stain cleared the traps they'd been using all this time and the older man went to fill their water bottles while Izuku picked up their things. By dawn, they were ready to go. Just before they got going, Stain handed something to Izuku: it was the black hunting knife he'd been using for training, along with its sheath. The teen blinked.

"Keep it with you." Stain instructed and Izuku smiled, nodding his head enthusiastically and attaching the weapon to his pants since he didn't have a belt. He'd grown accustomed to the blade in the past few months and he was happy to have a knife of his own, even if he wasn't overly excited about using it against another person.

For once there was no training whilst on the road and so they only had to walk for a few hours before signs of humanity started appearing and, by nightfall, they were already making their way through tiny back alleys.

Izuku missed the forest as soon as they reached the city, but he kept that to himself. He was sure that he wouldn't be able to sleep well for a few days with all the noise and the lights, but he'd get used to it again. At least, so he hoped.

They found a small abandoned house and settled there for the night, Izuku missing the warmth of the fire dearly. Having so much activity around him made him feel uneasy and, as predicted, he was unable to sleep that first night.

He'd tossed and turned for hours until Stain had asked him to "stop already" and so he'd instead counted the bricks on the walls until dawn. Thankfully the second night was better.

Stain took out his first two heroes in a matter of days, and the media exploded in a frenzy of speculation and blind guessing. Was Izuku still alive? Were they attacking together now? Had Stain abandoned the teen somewhere down the road?

Paper after paper came out with different allegations, all of them extreme and none actually coming close to the truth. His mother was once again begging for any tips on Izuku's whereabouts but by the end of the month none of Stain's victims this time around had survived and they left the city without any reported sightings of the teen.

October

The temperature was steadily going down and Izuku was starting to consider going to a thrift shop to buy some new clothes, but Stain beat him to it. Since Izuku's identity and face were public knowledge, it wasn't safe for him to go out on his own in the day.

One morning Izuku had just woken up to a new, thicker set of clothes, a belt, an oversized hoodie, and a black scarf. Finally, he could cover his face without looking like a random robber. He'd thanked Stain with so much gusto that his teacher even mocked him about it days later but Izuku didn't care. He was warm and comfy. He especially loved the hoodie because he could pull his legs to his chest and then cover them with the front of the sweatshirt, but he kept that fact only to himself.

They stayed on the move after leaving Toyama, traveling along the coast towards Osaka without stopping on any city in between. Stain only attacked heroes every couple of months to make sure he wouldn't get caught, but he took out petty criminals left and right without anyone noticing. Izuku was slowly but surely getting used to the sight of dead bodies.

Traveling so close to the sea had its ups and downs. On one side, Izuku loved walking on the shore at night with his shoes off, and the smell of salt in the air calmed him down. Since summer was gone, the heat wasn't unbearable and the nights were fresh. Watching the sunsets was also really relaxing, as corny as it sounded.

On the other side, Stain made Izuku run on the sand for training now, and that was even more tiring. He'd have to train for hours both at day and night and he would be pretty much spent by the time they found a place to rest. But the teen didn't complain and he did as told, finding with each passing day that he felt less tired when he was finished with training.

On the 15th they'd been walking out at night, as usual, when Stain had an idea. He lead Izuku up a fire escape and onto a roof. Izuku was getting ready to settle on the edge of the roof when Stain pointed to the next building's roof about ten feet from the one where they were and Izuku panicked.

"I can't do that!" Izuku had hissed as loud as he dared, shaking his head fast.

"It's a short jump, kid. It's easy." Stain had answered, barely needing a few steps for momentum to easily leap over the abyss and land gracefully on the other side.

"Come on, Midoriya." Izuku heard Stain call out. He looked over the edge, the ground four stories below, and swallowed. Ten feet was doable, right? Stain had just cleared the distance with no effort so Izuku should be able to do the same. But his feet felt glued to the ground.

"Move it!" Stain ordered and Izuku gave in. He stepped away from the edge, giving himself a good twenty feet to run before the end of the roof and he inhaled deeply. He rubbed his eyes and, after a long moment and a hesitant first step, he set off at top speed.

The moment his foot pushed him off the roof and he was left touching nothing solid was perhaps the longest moment Izuku had ever experienced. His eyes were open wide and he could somehow focus on both the roof ahead of him and the ground underneath. He cleared the distance with a few feet to spare but landed on a heap on the other side, his body rolling a few times before he stopped.

"See, you had it." Stain reassured, rolling his eyes at Izuku's tearful expression.

"My whole life flashed before my eyes," Izuku whimpered, sitting up and patting himself down to make sure that he was indeed still alive and unharmed.

"Of course it did."

"That's the first time I do something like that!" Izuku defended himself, standing up and dusting himself off. Thank God he had his scarf because he was pretty sure he was both pale and blushing. Stain sighed, less amused by now.

"And it won't be the last. Get moving."

November

They didn't arrive at Osaka until the 14th of the month. They'd spent almost five weeks on the road and Izuku was glad to be back in a populated place, for once. He really wanted to find a place with running water so he could take a long bath and wash all his clothes.

His backpack was also starting to show some signs of tearing, especially were the straps connected to the rest of the bag, and Izuku was wondering if maybe he'd be able to get a new one. Or maybe he could fix it, he thought, looking at the patched up length of fabric that Stain used as a strap for his cooler.

It had taken them an extra day to get close enough to the city center as Stain wanted and unfortunately, the small abandoned structure where they stayed offered no luxuries, so they'd have to wait before they could clean up.

Stores all around town already had Christmas decorations up and everyone was starting to wear their winter clothes. Izuku was more grateful for his hoodie now than he'd been before, the large item keeping him warm at night.

Their first week in town had been relatively uneventful. Stain had managed to attack one pro hero, a woman who had made her debut only a few months prior, and one random criminal that had foolishly tried to rob them at gunpoint one night. The poor man hadn't had the time to even finish threatening them before he had a knife plunging into his stomach.

It wasn't until the 23rd that things took a turn for the chaotic. That afternoon, Stain had gone out by himself, which wasn't rare, but he'd returned much later than usual with a gaping wound on his shoulder clumsily wrapped with his red scarf.

Izuku had panicked the minute he'd noticed the wound.

"Stain, oh my God!" the teen had cried out in horror, a great contrast to his teacher's calm demeanor.

"I'm fine."

"Wha- No, you're not! We need to get that cleaned! You might even need stitches!"

Stain looked a little annoyed at Izuku's fussing, but not even he could deny that the wound was rather deep. Izuku cleared a small space in the bathroom, thanking the heaven's that the house where they were staying had running water, and frantically tried to remember everything he knew about first aid.

"Kid, relax." Stain had told him, but Izuku wouldn't rest until the wound was properly taken care of. They needed alcohol, thread and needle, and clean bandages but had none of them. Well, they did have water and some cloth, but that wouldn't do.

"You have money, right?" Izuku had asked, already fixing his scarf around his face and pulling his hood up. Stain hadn't even tried to argue with his protegee, instead pointing at the plastic cooler in the corner and starting to take off every holster he had so he could take his shirt off and clean the wound with water.

At the bottom of the plastic container, Izuku located a wad of cash and took a few bills before leaving in a hurry. He found a small pharmacy a couple of blocks away and was ready to barge into the place when he remembered just how crucial it was that he didn't call any attention upon himself. He took a few deep breaths, adjusted his scarf and hood, and walked inside as casually as he could.

The place was tiny, just a few aisles and a register in the back, a security camera very obviously watching from the corner. Izuku lowered his face and got to work. He took the second biggest bottle of alcohol available and a bunch of bandages and gauze. He had to ask the man at the register about the needle and the sutures and after he paid, the clerk had given him an odd look.

But Izuku had just thanked the man and, as soon as he was out of the store, ran all the way back to Stain.

He found the man shirtless and maskless in the bathroom, the gash on his shoulder covered with some random piece of cloth. Izuku pulled everything out of his pockets and set it on the counter, his hands shaking violently.

"Ok, that's enough." Stain said, reaching for the medical supplies himself. Izuku almost argued with him, but his mentor gave him a severe look, "You think I'm letting you do this in your state? I got it from here."

Izuku had stumbled out of the bathroom, the door clicking behind him. He paced back and forth, sat down, stood back up and bit his nails until Stain stepped out of the darkened room. He was still shirtless, his torso a collage of scars, but at least his shoulder looked properly bandaged and there was no blood seeping through.

"Are you ok?" Izuku asked quietly.

"I told you already, I'm fine."

"What happened?"

"The sham fought back."

Stain sat down without another word and Izuku just stared, keeping his distance because of how off he felt. He quietly opened the cooler and put the money he hadn't used back before joining his mentor on the ground. The teen had to bite his lip to keep himself from crying, but Stain noticed anyways and sighed.

"I'm fine." He repeated, more gentle this time.

"I know," Izuku said, his head pressed firmly against his knees, "I know, I just…"

"Just breathe, kid." Stain said, patting Izuku's hair once softly.

"...Okay."

December

By the 12th, Stain had already struck down three heroes in the city. His injury hadn't stopped him in the slightest, but in the very least he was taking good care of it so Izuku didn't have to remain in a constant sense of dread.

The weather outside kept getting colder and colder, and by now it was usual to see small piles of muddied snow on the side of the road. Every night they went out Izuku could see their breaths condensing into clouds in front of their faces, even with his scarf on.

Regardless of the temperature, people were out and about now more than ever. Even at night shops were open and filled with costumers, everyone buying gifts and such. Everyone was so distracted, that the new batch of posters with Izuku's face that had appeared near the police station had gone by unnoticed. The fliers had shown up on the 7th after Stain's second victim survived and testified to Izuku's presence, but there hadn't been much more information. The police by now must have guessed that the teen was no hostage and had, therefore, stopped treating his case as a kidnapping one.

He guessed his mother had asked for the posters to be put up, but he couldn't know for sure. After all this time, thinking about his mother being alone at this time of year made Izuku's heart hurt. He took some comfort in the fact that at least it was public information that he was still alive, so his mother had that.

As the nights grew longer Izuku fell on a weird state of lethargy. He still did his training when he had too, and he went out with Stain almost every night to patrol, but he didn't ask as many questions as he used to nor did he write down anything in his notebook. Granted, the latter was because he'd run out of pages, but he still didn't feel the drive to write anything regardless.

On the night of the 24th, Izuku found himself unable to sleep. He stared at the ceiling for what felt like hours until he couldn't take it anymore. He wrapped his scarf around his face and left the rickety house where they were staying and walked in a random direction.

There were not many people outside but Izuku still avoided all of them, turning corners until he found himself at a small park with a pastel-colored playground. He didn't even know for how long he'd walked or which way was back, but he didn't care much.

He was slowly swaying back and forth on one of the swings when Stain found him a while later.

"You're distracted." Stain had told him, leaning against a tree.

"Am I? Sorry, I don't know where my mind is…" The teen had replied as casually as he could but Stain saw right through it.

"What is it?"

"...I'm just thinking about my mom, is all." He answered quietly, a little afraid of what Stain might tell him.

"Midoriya…" Stain began, eyes narrowed, but Izuku stopped him.

"I know, I know. I just..." He gave his mentor a small glance, unsure. He used his feet to stop the movement of the swing.

"Just…?"

"I'm just hoping that she's spending the holidays with someone and not on her own. I doubt my dad would reach out even with me going missing, but she has friends. I just hope they invited her over."

"You have to let go of your past, kid. It'll just hold you back." Stain said, his tone somehow careful. Izuku smiled sadly.

"I know. It's not like I want to go back. I just hope she's doing okay, you know?"

Stain remained silent and Izuku sighed. They stayed in silence for some time, the frigid air around them still. The city was alive with dancing lights even at this time of night and the echoes of music could be heard far away. Izuku's mind wandered and he imagined himself back home for a moment with his mother. A part of him felt like, if he reached out, he'd be able to step right into his living room.

But the image was foggy and the boy smiling innocently looked like a complete stranger to the teen. He knew in his heart that he no longer belonged in that place and he couldn't fool himself into thinking that he really wanted to return. It was the fact that he truly wanted to stay out here that made him feel off, he realized with a small smile.

He let himself swing softly for a few more minutes, taking in his emotions and for once dealing with them properly. Did he want to stay with Stain? Definitely. Was he selfish? Probably. Was he okay with said selfishness? He would be, in due time.

Eventually, Izuku let out a long sigh and stood, and both mentor and student made their way back to their hideout in silence.

Izuku curled up next to his bag, keeping his scarf on to fight off the freezing temperature. He managed to fall asleep right before dawn, his dreams plagued by lights and empty rooftops.

He woke the next morning to an empty room and a small new notepad next to him and he'd started writing on the blank pages gladly, a dumb smile on his face.