A figure entered the large office space where both Izuku and Nedzu were situated, the person was tall enough to dwarf the both of them and his body rippled with muscle under his shirt. Blond hair swayed while completely blue eyes studied them fondly as a smile so warm, prestigious and friendly that it rivaled even All Might's. The principal returned the feeling as he introduced this newcomer.
"Mr. Midoriya I'd like to introduce Mirio Togata, a former all star of our fine academy who has graciously offered to return on your behalf. I trust you both shall get along just fine."
The man called Togata pointed a thumb at his face with his teeth practically shining when he did so.
"Yep, I'm Mirio and I'm gonna be your handler for a while. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I've been told quite a bit about yourself."
He extended a hand out to Izuku who couldn't help but to scrunch up his brow in confusion at the hero before him. Reluctantly he accepted the hand and shook it.
"I'd imagine, anyway, It's nice to meet you too. I promise not to be too difficult going forward."
Togata slapped him lightly on the back, seeming to find Izuku's reaction enjoyable.
"Ah, don't worry about it man. We got years to get to know each other, right now just relax and enjoy being home again. Besides, I'm certain there's other people you'd want to meet again too. That's sure to be one exciting day."
Izuku frowned at that, he had only gotten back for maybe three hours at best and he most certainly had no desire to meet anyone right off the bat. He cringed a bit when he considered seeing Kacchan again. His contemplation ended when the mouse in the room spoke up.
"That's a kind sentiment Mr. Togata, but before anything goes forward I have to bring a certain requirement for our prodigal student if either of you plan on leaving this room today."
His paws reached into a drawer on his desk and pulled out what could only be an ankle bracelet.
"Until things have changed politically and there is no room for doubt about your intentions going forward Mr. Midoriya, you'll have to wear this at all times. If you fail to do so then your case will be taken out of our hands and placed with the metropolitan police. Please, don't let us down."
Izuku stared at the circular contraption with a mix of disdain and humor. This wasn't the worst thing to happen so he took it and clamped the metal band around his ankle without complaint.
"I assume this gizmo is waterproof?"
Nedzu nodded.
"Yes, Mei Hatsume herself designed it to be as durable as mechanically possible. Nothing short of sawing your leg off will deactivate it."
Izuku smirked at his guardian.
"Thanks Jigsaw, I'll be sure to remember that."
Nedzu said nothing, only sipping his tea while Togata lifted the other boy off the couch and gestured to the door.
"Come on, we've done enough sitting around for one day. Let's get things in motion, alright?"
Izuku shrugged in compliance. If the choice was up to him, he'd rather stay in this room until...well he didn't rightly know when, but it would be better then moving too quickly. "Maybe that was your problem, time keeps moving forward and so you have to do so in kind. Waiting for things to become perfect is stagnancy after all." Izuku flexed his fingers at hearing the old man's words in his ear, unsure what to think with everything that happened.
Togata exited the room and Izuku did so not far behind. The sheer fact that he was able to actually see the interior of this place again was a tad overwhelming to him. Never did he think even for a second that this would happen, but life is nothing if not unpredictable.
He watched Togata march ahead with his arms swing from side to side, vitality and life just oozing out from him to the point he almost glowed. Was he actually stuck with this guy for the next two years? Most likely, though it was better than some hard assed prison guard. Izuku placed his hands into the pockets of his jumpsuit and took in the experience.
There was no one else in the halls, though it didn't surprise him considering that it was sunday. Still the silence was errie to him. He just didn't like the quiet on principle, there was too much to hide like something was waiting to erupt.
Though the situation changed when the sound of two other people turned the corner. He could hear them before he could see them, their voices carrying much further than any professional would allow. Izuku found himself from when he saw his two oldest acquaintances stroll down the hallway, Uraraka was discussing some upcoming issue with Iida. Their heads had yet to turn from each other and in those few seconds he decided to act.
Mirio grinned happily as he greeted the other pair of students, prepared to ease the encounter between them and Izuku, but when he turned to look to where the guy was, all he found was empty air.
Izuku had never ran as quickly in his entire life as he was right now. He escaped through an open window the second he saw the opportunity and was currently sprinting for everything he was worth through the courtyard connecting the main school building to the dorms. Faster and faster he went trying to find anywhere to go when he found it, an open window right on the ground floor.
Biting his fear, Izuku leaped into the impromptu entrance without a second thought. Everything darkened once he passed the window frame and rolled onto the carpet. Instantly he scanned the area for anything that may have been a threat and he found it.
Another man was sitting not five feet away on a cheap leather couch. He had long, unkempt hair which dangled to his shoulders while also pointing up at every direction. His eyes were a deep, lilac purple that matched his hair with bags so plentiful under them that he had to be plagued with insomnia. The attire of the stranger was stained with colorful bits of drink and food which stated he didn't care about his appearance at the moment.
He stared at the intruder in his room with a fair amount of fear, but it was likely due to the unexpectedness of it, seeing as he was stopped with a potato chip halfway between the bag and his mouth.
Izuku glared at the man, recognizing him as Hitoshi Shinso. Instantly he recalled his brainwashing quirk, but that became the least pressing problem when he heard more people coming. He dropped to the floor, hiding himself below the window seal as the sound of approaching feet grew louder. A few minutes came and went and with them, so did the potential threat.
He peeked an eye out to the exterior, there was nothing other than Togata walking around the yard, presumably to try and find him while a few other students passed by. There was a twinge of guilt about leaving so suddenly, but it was better than the alternative, besides he was still where he was supposed to be and Nedzu or somebody would know where he was from the tracker on him.
Sliding the window shut, Izuku pulled down the blinds and breathed somewhat easier now that problem was dealt with, leaving him with his other, far lesser hassel. Turning to Shinso, Izuku felt most of the adrenaline void his body, resulting in a strange, "I can't believe that worked" kind of smile at the only one left to witness it. Shinso put down the chip he was holding up to this point and addressed the madman in his room.
"Hey."
Izuku couldn't help but to keep grinning even as the scar on his face flexed.
"Hey."
The fear that nested in the mind control user's eyes faded into utter bewilderment at what he saw. Looking the green haired teen up and down like he was the strangest thing to happen to him ever.
"What are you doing here?"
Izuku pointed to the window rather matter of factly.
"Hiding from my classmates."
Shinso followed his direction, eyeing the window as if it was connected to all this.
"Oh...why did you decide to jump in here like a goddamn ninja?"
Izuku shrugged.
"Because your window was open."
The taller student shifted in his seat, not quite uncomfortable but not completely okay with everything currently happening.
"I see...in that case can I get you anything? Chips, cake, coke, anything like that?"
Izuku raised an eyebrow at him.
"Where in the hell did you manage to smuggle cocaine in here?"
Shinso raised a brow at the scarred teen in return.
"Coke, as in the drink? You know that brown water that comes in red bottles?"
Izuku blinked, suddenly realising what they were talking about.
"Oh, my bad. Then I'll have some water."
Shinso got up from his couch and walked to his fridge, pulling out a cold bottle of the liquid. He turned around again to study this intruder into his domain, taking note of the rather large facial scar on the boy's face as he handed the water over.
"So...how've you been? Word got around a while ago about what happened back at the training camp. That was what? A year and half ago now?"
Izuku took the water, careful not to chug it like a savage in front of someone he practically just met.
"To be honest, I'm more on edge than when I was "recruited", though that's probably just first day jitters. How've you been?"
Shinso flopped back down on his sofa, looking for all the world like he couldn't give any less of a shit. Strangely it reminded Izuku of Dabi in a way.
"Fine until somebody rocketed into my room like John Wick."
Izuku nearly flinched at that, taking the hint of aggression in the other's voice.
"Sorry, but I'm...I'm not ready to meet everybody just yet, ya know? I just got here today and now Nedzu expects me to make nice with them after ..."
He fell silent, unsure of how to deal with the onslaught of bloody memories.
"Look, would you mind if I just hung out here for a while until I get used to this again? I really don't want to make an ass of myself in front of everyone."
Shinso once again studied the person before him, watching each little twitch and facial tic to try and find something akin to an understanding. In the end he grabbed the edge of the half empty bag of chips and raised them to his guest.
"Want some?"
Izuku reached inside and pulled out a handful.
"Yes please."
Shinso took the bag back and scooted himself to one side of the sofa while Izuku took the other end, unmuting the TV he had stationed to the opposing wall to show some old sitcom he had been mindlessly consuming to kill time. They sat in the numbing glow of the screen just absorbing the distraction for however long either of them cared to count, yet Shinso couldn't help to not notice the bit of scar tissue that poked out near Izuku's collar or how his muscles popped under his jumpsuit. There was something...wrong with the guy and it was hard to figure out what, but somehow, in an unspoken, animalistic sense, Shinso knew for a fact that this person could kill him easily. Yet at the same time, he still remembered facing Izuku during the sports festival and how downright awkward his opponent had been. Now? Now it was like looking in a direct negative of that picture.
What did they do to him? He had seen the news report where All Might exploded that creep in a suit and there had been countless rumors online about some kind of weird cult that followed some serial killer called "The Smile Man" that may be connected to the League of Villains, if a few theories he read were right, but speculation aside, he knew absolutely nothing. 1-A flat out refused to discuss their open secret and when he had brought it up, he'd learned not to do that again.
He was still hurting from that black eye the blond asshole gave him. Shinso gritted his teeth slightly after they had finished another episode and turned his head towards the source of his curiosity after pausing the video.
"So...you mind answering something on my mind?"
Izuku regarded him with the same amount of interest and shrugged once again.
"Sure, isn't like I'm busy at the moment."
Shinso hestiated for a moment before deciding to say fuck it to his fears.
"How'd you get that scar?"
Izuku lurched back at the question, honestly surprised anyone would ask that out of the blue. Then a grin found its way to him as he thought back to that night.
"One of my pals slashed me with a knife. I deserved it for being so fuckin' stupid, he had the thing in his hand and walked up to me while muttering, but I just thought he was in a bad mood, because somebody teased him about his skin or something so I just tried to talk to him and, well you see how that went."
Shinso stoically listened to the story, not quite sure what he was expecting. These were villains after all. Still, there was an almost...nostalgic quality to Izuku's tone that worried him. Then he remembered that this guy was trapped with them for nearly two years, that's bound to mess up anyone's head, especially if what he read about those two other villains in particular were true.
From there he decided to not ask things until he got a better grasp of the situation. He was curious of course, but the more he considered what he might learn, the better ignorance sounded to him. He still had nightmares about that piece of evidence he had seen on one of the smile man message boards. There was just so much blood everywhere and...no, he didn't want to dwell on it.
Eventually three hours had passed and they had gotten rather bored of watching mindless garbage over and over. The sun was setting low in the sky now with its orange glow kissing the horizon causing the winter wind to pick up in chill. Izuku had barely said a word to Shinso during his stay and to the insomatic's surprise, he didn't seem keen on leaving.
"Could I spend the night here?"
Shinso didn't know what to make of the request, namely from how odd it sounded. It was like a child asking permission to stay up rather than a fully grown person and Izuku's eyes looked...scared? Uncomfortable? Whatever it was, he didn't like it, but given the situation there was little he could do without making the whole school go up in arms.
He opened a closet and threw a pillow and a blanket onto his sofa, gesturing to it with an open palm.
"All yours, just be sure to pack the stuff away in the morning, alright?"
Izuku nodded happily, a look of absolute relief flooding him as he settled into place, much to his host's disturbance.
"You have my word that it'll be done."
Shinso sat down on his bed, staring at the overgrown weed that had taken up residency on his couch. This was not how he planned his sunday to go. Granted this was far more interesting than anything he could have thought of. Rubbing the palm of his hands into his eyes, he found himself grinning ironically at what went on. His only remaining hope before the lights were turned off and he drifted to sleep was that this wasn't going to bite him in the ass.