A/N: Hello! I know I usually post the author's notes after the chapter but several people seemed a bit displeased with last chapter so I decided to address the matter right now!
Now, I in no way condone violence which may seem untrue due to the amount of violence that's incorporated in this Fic but you need to understand that all Izuku knows is death and destruction. He has had about 1 life that wasn't complete chaos. Murder is not a proper response to anything, I know that, and I'm gonna be working on that with Izuku as well.
Keeping that in mind the man that said those transphobic things proceeded to attack Izuku which you would know if you read the whole chapter and didn't zero in on the words "Izuku" "killing" and "transphobic". Izuku has had very bad experiences with violent men in the past so he decided it would be better to be safe rather than sorry and killed them. Again I will be working on that in Izuku's character development arc but in the future please refrain from being downright rude to me for something I put in a story. Remember, this is fictional and is in no way a reflection of how I am in real life!
(P.S. Don't criticize my writing if you don't know the difference between they're, their, and there)
Thanks! I hope enjoy this chapter lovies!
Izuku improves by "training" with Dabi, Himiko, Magne and runs into Jin's copies again.
"You're getting better Himiko-chan" Izuku complimented "But still not as good as me" he said dodging Himiko's attack yet again. He kicked the knife out of Himiko's hand and pressed his knife into her arm.
"Do you yield?" Izuku asked, when Himiko didn't respond until he pushed the blade down harder causing her skin to split.
"Fine," Himiko huffed "I'll beat you one day so don't get too confident!" she declared
Izuku smirked "We'll see about that"
They practiced on, the minutes bleeding into hours until Himiko dropped to the ground in exhaustion. While bruises and cuts littered her skin Izuku looked untouched save a couple of minor scratches.
"How are you so much better than me at this? I'm older than you!" Himiko panted leaning up against the wall for support
"That's because he's been practicing with live combat for the past 3 months" Magne said watching the two with an amused face
"Magne, congratulations, you found my hideout" Izuku wheezed struggling to calm his thundering heart.
"Who are you?" Himiko asked curiously from her spot on the ground
"I'm Magne, you are?" Magne asked looking at Himiko
"I'm Toga Himiko! But call me Himiko because Toga's boring" Himiko said giddly springing up to her feet all prior exhaustion forgotten
"You know Himiko, if you want we can team up and try to take him down" Magne said fiddling with a magnet
Himiko looked over to Magne with stars in her eyes "Really?" she asked
"Of course, us girls gotta stick together, am I right?" Magne said her eyes gleaming, Himiko nodded fiercely.
Izuku on the other hand watched with fear for his life as the two females turned on him sporting shark-like grins. Izuku knew introducing the girls to each other would only lead to his misery but as he watched the two chat happily he couldn't bring himself to regret the decision.
Who knows? Maybe the two would bring out the best in each other.
-•-
Izuku revokes all his prior statements about not regretting the Magne, Himiko team up. While he was right when he predicted that they would bring out the best in each other he hadn't accounted for the sheer amount of terror they would unleash. Nor did he predict that all of that said terror would be directed at him.
Magne was already a formidable opponent with a quirk like hers. It could be used both offensively and defensively and she was clearly used to using it in fights. However, where she excelled in strength and experience she lacked in grace and creativity, that's where Himiko came in. Her quirk required ingenuity for it to be used effectively and she carried herself with a grace on the battlefield that had only been improved upon meeting Izuku. That being said, in terms of raw power and experience Himiko still had a long ways to go.
They played on each other's strengths perfectly and it terrified Izuku.
He was used to hand-to-hand combat and when that didn't work he would switch to the defensive until his opponent tired out. Magne and Himiko didn't allow that to happen. Himiko would defend and fight Izuku while Magne would trip him up or give Himiko a boost, he was stuck constantly defending himself from Himiko while simultaneously trying to dodge Magne's attacks.
Within 30 minutes of the fight Izuku was already covered with an assortment of cuts and bruises. He made the mistake of remaining stationary for too long giving Himiko the opening to plunge her knife into his arm.
Magne and Himiko shared an excited grin allowing Izuku to disarm and steal Himiko's knife before throwing her into the wall. He then launched himself towards Magne only for his center of gravity to be thrown off course, he had to pivot midair in order to not go crashing into the wall.
By the time Izuku was back on the ground Himiko was back to her feet and standing by Magne a maniac grin on her face. Just as they were about to launch back into the fight a wall of bright blue flames erupted in front of them.
"What the fuck is going on here?" Dabi's voice rose over the roar of the flames
"Training?" Izuku offered
"Beating his ass" Magne said tilting her head towards Izuku
"Finally winning" Himiko cheered
Dabi pinched the bridge of his nose "This is worse than the "training" I had to deal with when I was back at my house, that's saying something"
"Oh come on, it's not that bad," Izuku protested, deciding to delve deeper into Dabi's statement. Dabi shot an unimpressed look towards the cuts and bruises littering Izuku and Himiko.
"Oops?" Izuku said sheepishly
"Oops?! What do you mea- nevermind" Dabi said exasperation in his voice
"You can join us if you want Patchy" Magne offered
"Dabi, it's Dabi" Dabi growled "And no, I'll pass"
"Why scared of getting your ass beat by some girls" Magne said smirking
"Like hell I am" Dabi said crossing his arms "Count me in"
"Patchy-chan is joining us!" Toga cheered, Dabi's eye twitched at the nickname
"That's it, I'm joining greeny" Dabi said walking over to Izuku's side
"What!" Himiko exclaimed "That's not fair"
"Ah yes, three people with quirks fighting against an 8 year old quirkless boy, totally fair" Dabi said sarcasm heavy in his tone
"Where he lacks in a quirk he makes up with finesse" Magne said
"Also like that's unfair, you both are boys!" Himiko said
"That doesn't really give us the advantage. In terms of strength the only one who you'll have to worry about is Dabi but Magne isn't lacking there either. Also as a female you automatically have to work harder just to be seen on the same level as men. It gives you the advantage because your gonna be underestimated and overtrained for things" Izuku explained
Magne and Himiko hummed thoughtfully as they processed Izuku's words
"So… us three against you?" Dabi asked
"Why not, I could use the challenge" Izuku said "But before we start we should probably put down some ground rules and find a new place to fight" everyone glanced at the buildings surrounding them and simultaneously agreed that it would be better to not cause any unnecessary collateral damage.
"Ground rules?" Himiko asked curiously after they established a training ground
"Like no headshots, try to keep your fire under 54 ºC, please , and we stop as soon as a bone breaks, someone gets an injury that requires stitches, or someone gets second degree burns" Izuku said
"Only second degree burns?" Dabi complained
"Only one injury that requires stitches?" Himiko pouted
"Only one broken bone? Weak" Magne said
Izuku all looked at them with a blank stare "Fine then, third degree burns, two injuries that require stitches and one broken bone. But you guys only fight with your quirks and I get to bring knives" Izuku said
"You didn't change the number of broken bones" Magne pointed out
"I'm trying to limit the amount of infections we get since we don't have a hospital at our disposal" Izuku shot back
"Fair," Magne said
"So you all agree to the terms?" Izuku asked, everyone nodded
"What happens if we break the rules?" Dabi asked, he soon regretted it as Izuku's smile turned prederatory
"I get to use you as target practice" Izuku said in a voice that sent shivers down everyone's spine
-•-
"Hello" Izuku chirped when he entered the Gwan's shop
"Hello Izu- OH MY GOD!" Blaire said, a look of horror crossing her face "What happened?" she asked hurrying to tend to him
"Oh you know, the usual" Izuku said dismissively waving his hand
"No" Blaire through gritted teeth "No, I don't know"
"Training?" Izuku offered
"Training" Blaire said skeptically
"Well I mean I wanna be a hero but they're not just gonna let me in, especially with my quirkless status and all. I'm gonna have to prove myself and the people here are very aggressive..." Izuku said
"So you've been going around picking fights in the name of training" Blaire finished for him
"In so many word" Izuku said "But I'm also helping people so that's extra practice for me"
Blaire sighed heavily "You do realize that you're breaking the law to become a hero, right?"
"Technically I'm not doing anything illegal" Izuku said
"You're assaulting people and being a vigilante" Blaire said blankly
"Not according to the law" Izuku said smirking
"You found a loophole, didn't you?" Blaire said
"Two actually," Izuku said proudly "It's not assault if the other person strikes first, it's self defense. And a vigilante is someone who uses their quirk illegally. I have no quirk to illegally use so I'm just your friendly neighborhood hero: Strike"
"Mhmm" Blaire said unimpressed
"Hey don't look at me like that" Izuku said holding up his hands defensively "It's the laws words, not mine"
Blaire gave him a blank look before yelling at the top of her lungs "MA! PA!"
Chunyuk came barreling into the room no more than 5 seconds later "Blaire what's- oh" he said upon seeing Izuku.
"Oh goodness" Nari said when she caught sight of Izuku sitting on the ground looking like he just went through a blender.
Izuku glared at a smug looking Blaire who made her way out of the room while her parents were preoccupied with Izuku.
"I'm sorry for the intrusion?" Izuku cringed "Er, I need some medical supplies. I-I have money!" Izuku said holding out several 1000 dollar yen bills. Nari and Chunyuk exchanged a look before ushering him into a chair.
"Chunyuk has more experience with this kind of stuff" Nari said gently "He'll take care of this okay?"
"I-I don't want to bother you guys" Izuku protested "I can take care of these myself"
"Oh no you don't" Chunyuk said "Some of these look like they'll need stitches, you can't take care of those by yourself"
Izuku remained silent as Nari brought over the first-aid kit. Chunyuk opened it and after refilling through it for a couple of minutes before sucking in a sharp breath.
"We're out of the pain medications" Chunyuk said regret laced in his voice, Nari cringed sympathetically
Izuku, on the other hand, felt relieved "Oh that's fine, I don't react well with pain meds anyway" Izuku said
Chunyuk set his mouth in a thin line "This is gonna hurt" he warned
Izuku fought the urge to flinch when the needle pierced his skin and watched diligently as Chunyuk worked on his damaged skin. He needed to figure out how to do these sorts of medical procedures correctly, it would be a valuable skill to have.
Izuku was so enraptured in watching the stitching methods that he didn't notice the worried glances Chunyuk and Nari exchanged due to Izuku's lack of reaction. He finished patching Izuku up within 30 minutes which was impressive for the amount of injuries Izuku sported.
"Thank you sir" Izuku said bowing "H-how much do I owe you?" Izuku asked eyeing his money nervously unsure if he had enough to pay
"Owe as in money?" Chunyuk asked, Izuku nodded "Oh no, this is free"
"Free? B-but" Izuku protested
"No, you will not pay" Chunyuk said sternly "You can pay for your own first aid kit but that's all you'll be paying for"
"Why don't I get you some burn cream so you don't scar up" Nari said interjecting before Izuku could protest again
"Ok" Izuku relented "Thanks"
-•-
"Hey I found him!" a cheery voice announced, Izuku's head snapped up and he saw the odd man who gave him money
"Took you long enough" another man grumbled
"Like you were much help" the first man said "You weren't even here the first time!"
"Guys stop arguing, you're gonna scare the kid" a third man said popping into the alley next to the other two
"Uhhh" Izuku said dumbfounded, staring at the identical men standing in his alley "Can I help you?" Izuku asked cautiously
"We were wondering if you'd play for us!" the second man asked eagerly
"He wouldn't shut up about it" the third man stage whispered gesturing to the first man (Jin?)
"I'll pay to hear you perform!" the first man announced
"Pay?" Izuku asked shocked, just who were these guys
"Of course, it ain't easy being a kid on the streets" the second man said sympathetically
"Ok" Izuku agreed happily "Any requests?"
"Surprise us" the three men said
-•-
"That was awesome!" the third man cheered
"You didn't exaggerate anything at all" the second man nodded
"I wouldn't have brought us if it was gonna be a shit show" the first man said sounding offended
"Hey" Izuku said, interrupting the men "I-I don't mean to be rude but are you guys brothers or something?"
They stopped in the midst of their bickering before one of them barked out a laugh "Nah" he said "We're just copies"
Izuku tilted his head in confusion "Copies?"
"Yeah, like a quirk" the second man said "We gotta be careful though because if we get hurt we melt away"
"Wow! That's so cool" Izuku said intrigued "So what should I call you? Do you have different names?"
"Just call us Jin," Jin said as he handed Izuku a stack of yen