Izuku was so close.
His battle with Lady Nagant had reached its climax, both of them beaten and worn down. Most pro heroes would have just finished off the villain there and then. But Izuku wasn't like most pro heroes.
He desperately wanted to help, have a connection with his opponent, find out what was driving them. In the back of his mind, this went against all the teachings that he was taught at UA. But this wasn't UA, it was the real world.
He reached out, desperately trying to grab onto her hand. His gloved fingers intertwined with her sweat ridden ones. Their eyes locked, and Izuku could see that the deadpan glare from the beginning of their fight had gained a new found glean, an almost optimistic look.
"Izuku Midoriya, you're the real dea-"
Two large lines cracked across Lady Nagant's face. Her smile was the last thing Izuku saw, a moment of an emotionally charged happiness, before her body exploded.
Falling.
Izuku was falling.
The fight with Lady Nagant had taken it out of him. He had been forced to use multiple quirks in order just to keep up with her. His body had only just gotten used to using OFA at 45%. Izuku's vision began to blur as he began to freefall down.
Suddenly, a flash of red passed him. A hurl of feathers heading in the direction of Nagant.
"Nagant!" yelled a familiar voice, "no dying on me now!"
Seeing the charred body being cradled in Hawk's arms, made Izuku feel like a weight was being lifted off his shoulders. A pro hero was here. He wouldn't have to suffer in this fight alone anymore.
"We got word from All Might!"
Izuku whipped his head around to see Endeavour flying towards him, using his fire quirk as a propellant.
"Sorry we're late, rain and I don't get along well."
Normally Endeavour adopted a very stoic manner when performing on missions. However, after spending the past month constantly checking up on him, Izuku could tell even in his dazed state, that Endeavour was way more on edge than he usually was.
"Status report? Any enemies besides Nagant?" he barked at Izuku.
"Ah Endea-" Izuku began before a panicked cry cut him off.
"Ah! I should have known!" Hawks yelled out, "I'm not up for flying yet!"
Izuku spun around in the air to see Hawks attempting to fly. However, there were only two small feathered nubs where his wings normally were, and as a result, he did not have nearly enough momentum to stop either of them from falling.
Izuku grasped at what little energy he had left, and extended his black whip from his hands; one towards Hawks, and one towards the nearest building, trying to anchor the three of them.
"Hawks!" Izuku cried out, as the sheer pain made it more difficult to grab onto them, making sure that they didn't fall. At this point, he was running on fumes, and he wasn't sure how long he would be able to hang on. However he desperately needed to update them on the situation.
"Based on the timings of the explosion, I don't think she caused it on her own," Hawks looked up at Izuku, trying to process the information he was saying, "All For One gave her an extra quirk to use! And he must have booby-trapped her body!"
Hawks focussed his attention back to Nagant, whose face was distorted in pain, "Hey I'm Hawks! Your replacement."
Nagant opened one eye. Izuku wasn't quite sure what the connection was between the two of them, but judging on Hawk's reaction, he knew that she was someone that meant a lot to him.
"All For One must've sweet talked you into this! I know you're better than this. And now that you've fought that kid, I bet you've realised that it's too early to throw in the towel!"
Despite the fact that they were slowly freefalling, even with Izuku clinging on with his black whip, Hawks was wasting no time in trying to find out information. No wonder he had climbed to the ranks of Number 2 hero at the young age of 22. He really was quicker than anyone else around.
"Please tell us what you know! Leave us with some hope to hold on to! He used you, but don't let it end at that! You're a hero, you're Lady Nagant!"
Izuku had never seen this side of Hawks before. His usual lucky-go-persona had been shedded to show a more soft, if desperate vulnerable side to him. His sincerity had caught Izuku off guard.
He was not the only to be affected by his words. Nagant opened her other eye and spoke with a raspy voice, "within two months, I was s'posed to bring the target-"
She coughed, the words struggling to come out.
"-to a mansion in Haibori Woods."
Suddenly Izuku became acutely aware of how close they were to the ground. His last bit of strength deserted him, and Hawks tumbled down, losing grip of Nagant so she rolled to the floor.
Izuku used the last bit of Fa Jin stored in his leg to push off, just before he hit the ground, so that he didn't immediately topple and fall over. Hawks meanwhile had bent over Nagant, and very gently moved the blackened hair out of her eyes. Despite the fact Izuku had just spent a long period of time fighting a gruelling battle with her, he knew it was not his place to interject. He hung back, choosing to watch from a distance.
Nagant was breathing very heavily, every time she wheezed, he could see tiny particles of black soot coming from her mouth.
"Not just me," she said softly, "he reached out… to some others."
She turned her head to look at the sky, the rain splattering down her face. Compared to a few moments ago, Hawks was now completely silent, letting Nagant take her time to talk.
"Tell me, Mr Replacement, my soul couldn't take any more. So how do you still have that look in your eye?"
It was at this revelation that Izuku finally understood that there was something that had been burning away at Nagant for a very long time. After all, all of the pro-heroes had to go through vigorous training in order to become one. So going from one of the most beloved figures in Japan to outright murdering the president of the commission, suddenly felt very odd and unnerving to Izuku.
Meanwhile, Hawks had lent back and gave out one of his face-splitting grins, the one that Izuku had seen many times both in person and on tv.
"I wasn't alone in this," he said gently, "and what can I say? I'm optimistic to a fault."
Nagant gave a small smile and closed her eyes, seemingly satisfied with Hawk's answer. Izuku wanted to say something, ask Nagant what was really going on. But his energy had deserted him, and they sat in silence, whilst the rain pelted down around them.
There was no-one else around, all the streets nearby had been long since evacuated. The quietness around them was unsettling, and it was late into the night, so anybody left behind would be hiding away in fear of being attacked by the now rogue villains.
The silence was suddenly broken by the sound of protesting yells and low grunting. Izuku turned to see Endeavour walking towards them, lugging the squirming body of Chisaki.
"Deku! There's no one else besides him, right?!"
"No.. no… this wasn't the deal. You weren't s'posed to get caught," he cried out, trying to wiggle out of Endeavour's arms, "Take me to the boss! He's all I've got left!"
Izuku remembered how utterly terrifying Chisaki had been, when he had fought him at the underground Mafia base. He had killed Nighteye and deeply traumatised Eri. This man had been nothing short of how awful a human could be.
"I gotta tell him I'm sorry!" Chisaki screamed. Izuku inwardly scoffed. Chisaki, feeling sorry? He had been such an unstoppable force of villainy, and now he had been reduced to acting like a screaming child. Izuku would have pitied him once upon a time.
"Chisaki-" Izuku began.
"SHUT UP, YOU DISEASED MAGGOT! I'M TALKING TO HER!" Chisaki cut him off. What a pathetic excuse of a person.
"Do you remember everything you did to Eri?"
"Eri," there was a spark of recognition in his eyes, "ah of course, with Eri I could-"
"You want to say sorry, do you?" Izuku asked coldly. If Chisaki was truly sorry, maybe there was a way he could try and make amends to all of the people that he had hurt, "If you're willing to direct that same energy towards Eri, I'll honour your deal in Lady Nagant's place."
That shut him up. Izuku could see him thinking about what he had just said. But before they could talk any further, a familiar black car pulled up and All Might jumped out, panic etched across his face.
Toshi felt his heart falter when he saw Izuku. The pro heroes had gathered around Chisaki, whilst the bruised teenager was kneeling next to the charred Nagant, looking like he was ready to collapse at any moment.
"Kid! Are you okay?!" he exclaimed. Izuku turned to face him, staring blankly at him. However before Toshi could walk over to him, Endeavour walked forward to bark orders at the group.
"Lady Nagant and Kai Chisaki are in custody. Get word to the cops! And we need medical aid for this one!"
The pro heroes began making the various calls, sorting out the emergency services and catching each other up to speed on the situation. Meanwhile Izuku hadn't moved, still sitting down next to Nagant.
"Midoriya's badly hurt! He needs help too," Hawks said, diverting Toshi's attention back over to him.
"I'm fine," he grunted, "I just need to sit down." However, all the pro-heroes looked at him apprehensively, not knowing what to say. The situation had been a delicate one, Toshi knew that they were uncomfortable with using a young teenager as bait, but with so many unknown elements with the League currently, there hadn't been a better solution. Most of the pros here had only worked with UA students on a work study basis, it was a different matter entirely to have someone so young work at the same level as them.
"How about we clean up at my place?" Toshi suggested, "Hawks can catch me up later."
Hawks nodded, "drive back safe, and keep us updated as per usual."
Izuku stood up and walked over to Toshi's car, giving a simple nod to the heroes before getting in.
"He does not look okay," Endeavour commented. Toshi glared at him. Despite now being the Number One, he struggled with the more social aspect of the job, preferring to keep a professional attitude with everyone that he spoke with.
"You wouldn't be either, in his position," Hawks retorted, "I'm surprised he managed to hold off for as long as he did." Toshi's heart sank as he heard that. "Anyways, make sure he gets some sleep."
"I will do," Toshi replied, and he began walking over to the car. But before he could get in, Hawks stopped him.
"Make sure you get some rest too you know, I know the situation is hard for both of you." Toshi was eerily reminded of when Nighteye would constantly nag him to get some rest. He inwardly cringed at how he used to brush him off, and now had vowed to take better care of himself.
"Thanks Hawks, I'll call you later," and with that he got into the car. It had taken a beating in the fight with the thugs that had tried to blow it up earlier, but thanks to his American friend David Shield, it was able to withstand more than a couple of grenades.
Slumped out in the backseat was Izuku. He had drawn Gran Torino's cape around himself, using it to cover the lower half of his face. It was a bad habit he had gotten himself into recently, using the cape to mask whatever emotions he was trying to hide. Izuku's eyes were half shut, looking out of the window at the heroes, not bothering to look up when Toshi entered the car.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Mmm-hmm" Izuku grunted. Toshi started up the engine and began driving away.
He was extremely anxious about Izuku. In front of the other heroes, Izuku had put up a strong and determined front, but Toshi could see over the past month that it was slowly starting to wear him down.
Their relationship had been such an unusual one for him. Izuku had started out being a starry eyed fanboy that Toshi had initially brushed off, but after witnessing Izuku's selflessness first hand, Toshi couldn't help but see so much of himself in him. Throughout their time at UA together their friendship had blossomed, and although Toshi considered himself as a mentor to Izuku, they both knew it ran deeper than that.
When Izuku had announced that he wanted to leave UA, it had been such a simple decision to leave with him. No-one knew Izuku better than he did, and if he hadn't come with him, Toshi dreaded to think what he would do. As well, Toshi had been feeling incredibly powerless. He knew that one day he would have to give up OFA, and he couldn't be happier about who had received it, but it still got him down that he felt like he couldn't be as proactive in fighting crime as he was once able. He just wished he didn't feel so frustrated.
He had booked out an apartment for the two of them, in a relatively safe area, where a large portion of the population were still staying. Izuku's quirks were unlocking a pretty alarming rate, so they had divided their time between practicing on how to use them, and going on patrols around the local area. Izuku's danger sense went off pretty often, so their practice sessions were normally cut short due to one of the rogue villains attacking random civilians.
Even when they weren't out working on the streets, Toshi had noticed that Izuku had been having trouble sleeping. When he had asked about it, Izuku simply had said that the danger sense was giving him headaches, and he found it hard to switch it off. Just another thing to add to the growing pile of troubles.
The drive wasn't a long one, with Izuku opting to take the time to lightly doze. Normally after every villain encounter, the pair of them would discuss what had happened and if he managed to use any of his new quirks. Though today, Toshi thought it would be best to let him rest. He desperately wanted to reach out to him, but was unsure what to say.
The weather was still pouring down with rain the next day. Uraraka stared glumly out of the window, watching the droplets slide down. Today was their first day back in the classroom since their raid on the Paranormal Liberation headquarters. She remembered when Aizawa-sensai first announced the joint expedition with the pro-heroes, at how all the students at UA would be working alongside their work study mentors. There had never been such a collaboration of heroes in history, as far as Uraraka could remember.
After that announcement, there had been such a feverish amount of excitement throughout the whole school. Normal classes had been postponed, in favour of strategy planning and quirk training. Everyone had been so fired up, for it was finally the heroes time to strike first.
However today, the mood could not be any different. It was meant to be their start of the second year, but the atmosphere was pretty somber. Even the more talkative students, such as Denki, Kirishma and Ida, had been pretty quiet.
Uraraka cast her eyes over to Bakugo, who was sitting with his arms crossed, also looking out of the window. In the hospital, he had been even more explosive than usual, despite the fact that he had almost been killed by Shigaraki. After finding out that Izuku was in a coma, it had taken six of them to physically restrain him and take him back to his room.
It had been even more frustrating that none of them had been able to see Izuku. Uraraka had dropped into the hospital several times to visit her classmates, and she had briefly seen his mother at one point in the hospital cafeteria. However, after a few days, whilst everybody in 1-A had been discharged, Izuku had still remained unconscious. Bakugo had been restless, wanting to leave his room to see him as soon as possible. Uraraka and the rest of her classmates had decided to take it in turns to watch over his room, making sure he didn't make he didn't make a sudden breakout.
However, the day before Bakugo was discharged, All Might had come to visit him in his hospital room and requested that he speak to him alone. After that, Uraraka noted a huge change in his behaviour, becoming a lot more calmer. She wasn't sure what they had talked about, but he no longer attempted to try and break into Izuku's room.
And that calm, sullen manner had carried over back to UA. It was an unexpected change, after all Bakugo was normally so loud and hot tempered. But instead, he had kept to himself, only joining in conversations when someone had asked him a question. Uraraka wasn't sure if she liked this change, as annoying as Bakugo could be, she knew that his heart was in the right place, and his quiet and observant attitude was his way of showing care to his classmates.
But before she could ponder about it anymore, the classroom door opened, and Aiwaza-sensei walked inside. She noted that he walked in with a slight limp, and the bags under his eyes had become more pronounced.
"Good morning class, I am hoping you are doing well this morning," he began, "I have a few things I would like to talk to you about, but before we do that, I would like to introduce to you your new classmate." With that he motioned his arm out, beckoning someone in.
