A/N: WARNING: (RELATIVELY) MILD BOOD AND GORE AHEAD IN THIS CHAPTER!

- START -

It was already starting to turn dark by the time Izuku's train arrived. Odasen industrial district was located just outside of Jakku city, a maze of workshops, warehouses and alleyways. At least half of them were either abandoned or not actively in use. The autumn evening was cold and foggy, a dreary backdrop to the dozens of tired blue-collar workers making their way home from the station. Several of those he passed gave the boy curious glances, wondering what a middle-school kid was doing around this area.

Izuku had taken to visiting the scrapyards in the area once a week, in order to get new material for his inventions. Or at least, that was the excuse which he gave to his mother. In truth, it was really one particular shop which he travelled all that distance for. A rather sketchy store that sold things which he couldn't find anywhere closer to home.

Support items. Specifically, support items designed to be used by Pro Heroes.

It wasn't outright illegal, but it was certainly frowned upon for civilians to own hero-grade support gear. That couldn't quell Izuku's insatiable curiosity, though. There was just so much that he could learn from studying a physical object rather than trying to make do with pictures and descriptions. He wanted to dismantle and dissect, to study each and every design to feed the hungry furnace that burned steadily within his mind. Already he'd managed to make significant improvements to the mobility and responsiveness of his mechadendrites, not to mention add a second one to his burgeoning set of augmentations.

The fact that this bordered on breaking the law didn't bother him at all nowadays.

The proprietor was called Kuran, an obvious pseudonym. He – or she, it was impossible to tell – had an anonymity Quirk. Either that or they were using some kind of technology to quite literally pixelate their face into an unrecognizable blur. And disguise their voice too, although the man (woman?) almost never spoke.

Huddling up inside his jacket, Izuku quickly made his way to the location of the shop, only to freeze in his tracks. The entire area was covered in a thick layer of ice, nearly completely frozen over. Frost coated every single surface, from which sprouted columns of ice that reached into the darkening sky. It was still autumn, and Izuku seriously doubted even the coldest Japanese winter could produce frost like this anyway.

All of the ice had to have been caused by a Quirk. A villain attack, maybe? Or was the ice from a defense? The area he was in was rather shady after all, and it was no secret that Kuran was very capable of taking care of themself.

"What are you doing here, kid?" A man leaned out from where he'd been concealed amongst the frozen pillars. He was wearing a thick cyan parka which covered his entire body, and a pair of large winter boots. Even his face was hidden, with only two glowing eyes staring out of the darkness of his hood. "You looking for trouble?"

Every word the man spoke was filled with a tone of underlying malice. He simply exuded an overwhelming feeling of danger, an aura of menacing competence. Izuku heeded his instincts, quickly schooling his expression to appear like a normal schoolboy. "Sorry, I was supposed to meet my dad at his workplace. But then I got lost," he said meekly, hiding the mechadendrites under his coat. "All this fog makes it really difficult to know where everything is."

The man looked at him for a long, tension-filled moment. "Take this as a warning," he said abruptly. "Nobody steals from Detnerat and gets away with it, understand?"

"Ah, y – yes, I understand." Izuku didn't try to hide the stammer, although internally he had no idea what the man was referring to. "S – sorry for disturbing you."

"We're clearing out all the scum that infests this area tonight. Anyone who stands against us shall be eradicated. Don't get in the way, or I will dispose of you myself. Got it?"

"I – I will leave right away," Izuku bowed. He scurried away at a fast pace, not stopping until he was well out of sight of the man who'd threatened him.

What the hell was that all about? Had the support items he'd been purchasing originally been stolen from Deterat? There had been trackers and other discreet location devices installed – which he had disabled of course – but Izuku had just assumed that this level of monitoring came standard with hero-grade support gear. Did Detnerat send whoever that guy was in a revenge attack?

Izuku gulped; he was incredibly lucky that he hadn't been caught up in whatever violence that had taken place.

Odasen industrial district was an absolute labyrinth of dark alleyways and buildings, so it wasn't surprising when Izuku became a bit lost. The few remaining businesses still operating in the area had already closed for the night, lights off and shutters closed. Taken together, the atmosphere rapidly started becoming rather creepy. A chill ran down Izuku's spine, and he became more and more unnerved as he passed row after row of deserted buildings.

It was hard to tell in the foggy autumn twilight, but Izuku was beginning to think he was being followed. Soft footsteps occasionally sounded from behind him, but the place was always empty whenever he stopped to look around. After a while, Izuku thought he even heard giggling, eerie and high-pitched, echoing from the surrounding buildings. He started walking faster, bringing up his phone to check for directions.

Was he going around in circles? Izuku couldn't tell, not with the darkness and fog concealing everything. The map on his phone wasn't much help either, and he couldn't help sighing in relief when a figure suddenly materialized out of the evening gloom up ahead.

"Hello?" he called, holding out his phone like a torchlight. "Sorry to bother you, but do you know how to get back to the train sta – "

In the end, it was that lingering sense of unease which saved him.

Izuku was almost taken by surprise when the figure lunged at him with a large kitchen knife. His phone was sent tumbling to the ground when he dodged, barely avoiding the blade. The attacker immediately followed up with a series of quick stabs targeting his belly, and Izuku would probably have been disemboweled if his improved mechadendrites hadn't been fast enough to deflect the strikes.

His assailant suddenly changed tactics, targeting his arms with rapid cuts and slashes. Now there was no way Izuku could block the blade with his bare hands without getting hurt. Defending with his mechadendrites was his only option, which quickly turned into a panicky counterattack when he saw the chance. Yet his opponent was simply too fast, dodging and weaving like a dancer around his mechanical arms. It was still enough to force them back and create some space between the two combatants, even if his blows couldn't connect directly.

Izuku took the opportunity to catch his breath, condensation billowing out in clouds as he exhaled. "What the fuck?" he shouted, unable to suppress his anger and confusion at the unprovoked attack. The unknown figure started to snicker, then burst into an all-out eruption of hysterical, frantic giggling.

Izuku inhaled sharply; despite the muffled voice and the thick winter clothing, there was no way he wouldn't recognize the person in front of him now.

"T – Toga-san?"

"I knew you missed me," Toga cried. She pulled down her scarf to give him an enormous smile, grinning ecstatically in a hauntingly familiar manner. "It's so nice to see you again, Izuku-kun!" she squealed, waving the huge kitchen knife around excitedly. The story had been suppressed, but Izuku knew Toga had attacked a classmate with a knife a few weeks ago. Witnesses said she'd literally used a straw to suck out his blood.

"Toga-san, what's going on? Why d – did you a – attack me?"

"Oh, you know how it is," Toga said bashfully. "I needed a new place to sleep after my parents kicked me out, and everyone knows Odasen has lots of vacant buildings. So here I was, just looking around and exploring the area, when I found you! Oh Izuku-kun, I've missed you so much! I think about you every single day!"

While Toga rambled, Izuku discreetly activated his Quirk. He tried to remotely dial the police on his phone, which had landed on the ground right next to where Toga was standing. Unfortunately the schoolgirl kicked out just as he reached the last digit, sending his device spinning off into the darkness.

"I want it to be just the two of us, Izuku-kun," Toga grinned playfully. "Your eyes glow when you use your Quirk, you know. It's really obvious at night."

Izuku didn't even see her move. The blonde girl was suddenly right in his face, swinging her weapon towards his neck. It was easy enough for him to duck and avoid it, but Toga followed through by bringing her knee up to deliver a hard blow to his sternum. Izuku gasped for air, completely winded by the hit, and automatically pulled his mechadendrites in close to protect his chest. Once again however, Toga was a step ahead of him. She used the handle of the knife to land a crisp blow to his undefended forehead, causing him to stagger backwards.

"Have you been thinking about me too, Izuku-kun?" Toga crooned. Izuku's heart was pounding and he was already winded, yet the maniacal schoolgirl didn't appear to be tired at all. She was toying with him, he realized, content to watch him try and catch his breath rather than press her advantage.

"I – I have been thinking about you," Izuku admitted hoarsely, "When I heard you attacked a classmate – I felt like I should've have tried harder to help you." He coughed, looking up at the her from his position kneeling on the floor of the alley. "What happened to you, Toga-san?" Izuku rasped, "I can't help feeling like I failed you."

Toga's eyes gleamed like a cat's in the foggy twilight. "You wanna know what happened?" she laughed. "I stopped lying to myself! I stopped trying to pretending that I'm normal, stopped trying to hide how I feel from the people around me. I love my Quirk! Everything about it is incredible!"

The knife flashed once again towards Izuku's face, causing him to instinctively flinch away. Another feint by Toga. With his head turned aside, Izuku didn't see the knee which slammed into his ribs. He was thrown sideways, tumbling onto the uneven floor of the alley, mechadendrites clawing for grip on the cracked surface. Toga jumped on him before he could recover, straddling his chest and holding the knife to his throat.

"I can't stop thinking about you," Toga purred. "My brilliant, handsome, darling little Izuku." A second knife appeared out of nowhere, the tip of its blade pressing into Izuku's cheek until it drew a single droplet of blood. "I can't wait until I'm as cute and intelligent as you," she whispered.

Izuku knew he should've been scared, if not terrified of the psychotic girl with a knife at his throat, but all he could feel inside was sadness and guilt. "Toga-san," he wheezed, "You said to me once – you told me that you're not a bad person. I – it doesn't matter what your Quirk is, remember? Your Quirk doesn't dictate who you are, it's what you do with it that counts!"

"I did say that, didn't I?" Toga said softly, looking fondly down at Izuku. Their faces were now only inches apart from each other. Amber irises looked deeply into his eyes, her body radiating warmth in the crisp autumn chill. Toga leaned forward, planting a soft kiss right at the spot where her knife had cut into his cheek. She rested her head on his shoulder, her breath ticklish against Izuku's skin as she murmured into his ear.

"I'm sorry, Izuku-kun," she whispered, "I lied."

An enormous explosion ripped through the area, sending both of them tumbling backwards. The twilight gloom was suddenly lit by a massive fireball, flames and debris rising from a blast coming from close by. Intense heat washed over Izuku as he was thrown through the air. He must have blacked out for a second, because he abruptly found himself lying against a large pile of rubble within the ruins of a half-collapsed warehouse.

There was no sign of Toga, and Izuku couldn't help hoping that she was okay.

Shouts were clearly audible even over the crackling flames licking at the surrounding buildings. Izuku scrambled to his feet in a daze, his head still reeling from the explosion. He heard a yell coming from somewhere up ahead, forcing him to take cover behind a large pile of rubble.

Straining his eyes, Izuku could just barely make out a small grey shape moving quickly in the fog. His blood turned to ice when he realized that the figure was a little girl, barely older than a toddler, with red eyes and a small horn protruding from her forehead. She came close enough to spot him amongst the rubble, a mixture of panic and relief washing across her small face.

Izuku's body reacted before his brain did, darting forward from his hiding place to catch the little girl in his arms. She continued to run for a few seconds, moving her legs feebly in his arms, until she finally collapsed against his shoulder.

"Run away," she whispered, her voice weak with exhaustion. "Got to – run away. Don't let them get you." The grey-haired girl was only wearing a thin, raggedy dress. She was shivering badly in the cold autumn evening, and Izuku immediately took off his jacket to wrap it around her.

A well-dressed young man suddenly appeared out of the gloom, illuminated by the flickering light of burning buildings. He had chin-length blonde hair and was wearing a bizarre, conical mask covering the lower half of his face. Prominent, oval-shaped eyes scanned the area, narrowing when he spotting Izuku holding the little girl.

"Hey kid," the man called, "Thanks for taking care of Eri-chan. She got scared and ran away 'cause of all the fire, you know?" He directly addressed Eri, who shrank back and started shaking with fear. "C'mon now, Eri-chan!" he called cheerfully. "I need to bring you back to you father!"

Eri refused to even look at her supposed caretaker, which made Izuku seriously doubt he was telling the truth. But he couldn't just run off and kidnap a child, not when all he really had were suspicions. "No, I'm not letting you take her," he yelled back over the rubble, "Tell her father to come get her himself!"

The man groaned in exasperation, but perked up when a cheery ringtone cut through the air. The jolly tune seriously felt out of place amidst the backdrop of a ruined building. "Hey boss!" he chirped into his phone. "I managed to catch up with Eri-chan, but there's some kid here who doesn't want to hand her over." His eyes stayed razor-focused on Izuku and Eri even as he talked. "Sorry Overhaul-sama, he's like ten years old! I'd feel bad if I had to kill him."

Eri let out a tiny gasp, and Izuku himself quickly began looking for an escape route. They were surrounded by damaged buildings, some of which were very much ablaze. It looked like the only way out was past Eri's caretaker, through the half-collapsed warehouse Izuku had woken up in.

"Look kid, my name's Setsuno Toya," the man – Setsuno put his phone away and held up his hands in a conciliatory gesture. "I'm gonna be completely frank with you here; Eri-chan is the adopted child of the local Yakuza boss. Our base was attacked by a whole bunch of nutjobs, can ya believe it? She ran away in the confusion, and Overhaul-sama sent me to bring her back – by any means necessary." The Yakuza gangster grinned apologetically. "Can't disappoint the boss, you know how it is. I'd really rather not have to hurt or kill you. Please, hand Eri-chan over to me and then we can all go our separate ways."

The little girl shuddered in his arms, reinforcing Izuku's decision not to hand her over. "I won't let you take her," he shouted, despite the fear that was making his heart beat faster in his chest.

Setsuno looked disappointed. "Well, I tried," he shrugged. He seemed utterly unconcerned either way, casually unsheathing a lengthy blade and sauntering towards the two children.

It was difficult not to panic in a situation like this. Izuku racked his brain for something he could use, pushing down his rising fear. There were small to medium sized chucks of masonry and other debris scattered everywhere, but they wouldn't be useful against someone with a sword. He tried throwing a brick at the oncoming gangster, who simply swatted it aside with a roll of his eyes.

Right. Only a weapon of last resort, then.

Izuku began searching his pockets for something else to throw, until his hand closed around something he'd completely forgotten about. He would probably have smacked himself in the head if the situation wasn't so serious.

There was something useful on him – a craft knife. Sure, it was nominally a tool, but Izuku hoped it would serve as a makeshift weapon. The energy field emitted by the generator in its hilt was capable of disrupting molecular bonds on contact with a surface. In other words, the little knife was capable of cutting through almost anything.

It would've been very helpful against Toga earlier.

"What've you got there, kid?" Setsuno asked, sounding genuinely curious. "A retractable utility knife, huh? You really shouldn't be playing around with dangerous things like that, you know. Especially if you've got no idea how to use it." There was a disturbingly cheery sense of malice coming from him that made Izuku shiver in his shoes.

Eri seemed to be feeling even more terrible, shaking like a leaf when Izuku set her down and pushed her behind him. "Stay back!" he snarled, brandishing his improvised weapon.

Completely unphased, Setsuno drew even closer, with his sword hanging loosely by his side. "Like I said, you really shouldn't be playing around with weapons you don't know how to use," he grinned at Izuku's bravado. "Now don't say I didn't warn ya!"

The gangster opened with a flurry of stabs and thrusts, immediately forcing Izuku on the defensive against his assault. Fortunately for Izuku, this new assailant was nowhere near as fast as Toga had been. His mechadendrites were much better at keeping up with the slower attacks, proving their worth many times over by deflecting strikes which would have otherwise found their mark.

Setsuno seemed to favor lunging and stabbing over Toga's preferred style of slashes and cuts, making good use of his height and reach to keep himself away from Izuku's clumsy attempts at retaliation. "Not bad, but you're not going to get rid of me without fighting back," he laughed. "C'mon kiddo, don't tell me you're scared to actually use that little knife of yours."

Izuku ignored the taunt, silently waiting for another chance to strike. The Yakuza enforcer gave him an opening a few seconds later, overreaching when he tried brute forcing through the mechadendrites. Izuku slashed at his opponent's arm, who almost nonchalantly brought up his own weapon to block. The augmented craft knife sliced through the man's sword like butter, literally cutting the blade into two separate pieces before he managed to pull away.

"Wow. Can't say I was expecting that," Setsuno chuckled. He inspected the remnants of his weapon before tossing it aside, still supremely unconcerned, and eyed Izuku's knife with newfound interest. "That's one hell of a blade, kid. Mind if I take a closer look?"

A sudden lurch was Izuku's only warning before his knife sailed out of his hand. It flew towards Setsuno, attracted by some unknown pull, who caught it easily. Izuku grimaced, forcing himself to ignore the sharp surge of fear, and immediately started to back away. He made sure to keep Eri behind him.

Was that his opponent's Quirk? Izuku silently cursed himself for not being more careful, considering the other man had yet to use it until now.

The Yakuza gangster took his time inspecting his new toy, curiously examining the blueish energy field which flickered on and off whenever he pressed the activation button. "Doesn't look like much up close, does it? Where'd you get this from?" he asked curiously, only to be interrupted by that same cheerful ringtone from before. "Oops, that's gonna be the boss calling," he chuckled. "It's been fun kid, but I gotta end it here. No hard feelings, eh?"

Izuku braced himself for another attack, and was caught completely off guard when Setsuno threw the knife instead.

He tried to dodge, but his opponent was just too close and the knife was moving far too quickly. The best he could do was to tilt his head slightly, so that the blade entered at an upwards angle just below his cheek instead of going straight through his eye. Even then, its energized blade easily sliced through flesh and bone, piercing his right eye in its socket until it was buried up to the hilt.

Izuku screamed, a lance of pure, white-hot pain searing through the right side of his face. He fell to his knees, scrabbling at the object protruding from his cheek as blood dripped from the wound. Even the tiniest movement caused the agony to increase, and Izuku was so completely overwhelmed that he couldn't do a thing when Setsuno casually crouched down beside him.

"Sorry about that, but I did warn you," Setsuno said honestly. He gently tilted the unresponsive boy's head upwards with one hand, causing Izuku to snarl in pain and anger. "Hmm, don't pull that out yourself. I think they might be able to save your eye if you run to a hospital or something." He sighed as his phone started ringing yet again, perhaps even more insistently. "Crap, I've really gotta go. Good luck with that, kiddo." Setsuno began to turn, not noticing Izuku's mechadendrites creeping slowly towards his neck. "Now where did the little unicorn run off to this time?"

Both Izuku and Setsuno were taken completely by surprise when Eri appeared beside them, arms trembling with the weight of a sizable chunk of rubble. She smashed down on top of Setsuno's head before either of them could react. The Yakuza enforcer staggered sideways with the blow, which was the opening Izuku had been waiting for.

There was no hesitation when he struck. His mechadendrites moved in unison, metal tendrils wrapping around Setsuno's neck like silver snakes. They throttled him, the gangster choking as he pulled at the mechanical arms in a desperate bid to free himself. But there was no breaking their iron grip. Setsuno stopped struggling about a minute later, slumping lifelessly to the ground when he was released.

Was the gangster dead?

Izuku felt no remorse for what he'd done, only a grim satisfaction at bringing down the man who'd injured him. Eri was much more affected, though. The little girl seemed to be in shock, tears leaking silently from her eyes as she stood in front of her erstwhile caretaker.

Finally, Izuku felt like he'd recovered enough to push himself upright. A sharp pain stabbed through his skull with every movement, which he forced himself to ignore. Izuku knew that it was safer to leave an impaled object within the body, but he couldn't stop himself from tugging gently at the handle of the knife. Even the slightest pull caused him incredible agony, so he left it stuck there after making sure it remained deactivated.

"Eri-chan," he grunted, turning towards her. "Thank you for saving me." The girl looked up at Izuku's face, only to immediately flinch away. She looked down at the ground and started crying even harder. "Hey, it's okay," he tried to comfort her. "It's okay, Eri-chan. The doctors will get this knife out once we're safe. But we need to get moving, okay? My name's Midoriya Izuku, do you mind if I carry – no, are you okay with a piggyback ride?"

Eri nodded, still keeping her eyes fixed firmly on the floor. Izuku turned around to let the little girl clamber uncertainly onto his back, gently wrapping his mechadendrites around to secure her. Depth perception was a problem with only one working eye, but he managed to navigate the rubble and ruins of the warehouse by the light of the buildings burning in the distance.

They emerged into yet another alley, with half-collapsed buildings flanking either side. It was starting to get warm, the heat and flames creeping ever closer despite the chilly evening. Izuku quickly retreated, sighing in relief when they reached the outskirts of the blaze.

The wall to his left promptly exploded.

No, it was reshaped somehow, formed into a high, irregular barrier with spikes jutting from every surface. He turned to his right only for the exact same thing to happen, nearly cutting off their escape in that direction. Izuku looked back over his shoulder when Eri let out a frightened sob, dreading what he was going to find behind him.

A lone figure stood in front of the alleyway Izuku and Eri had just exited. He was wearing a familiar, conical mask, but most importantly his hand was pressed firmly against the reconstructed wall. "Who the hell are you?" he snarled, before shaking his head. "No, it doesn't matter. Hand over the child, or I promise to kill you right where you stand."

Izuku bolted.

Their pursuer roared from behind them, clearly another Yakuza gangster sent to retrieve the little girl. Despite the intensity of the chase, the reshaped walls and other barriers only appeared irregularly in their path. Yet the man was obviously not concerned about collateral damage. Izuku's mind raced as they fled over the uneven ground, automatically going through and analyzing the situation in his head.

Having studied dozens of touch or contact based Quirks before, Izuku knew that they commonly required a continuous path to the target. Was the Yakuza's Quirk not as effective because of all the wrecked buildings? The rubble and ruins might be interrupting whatever effect he was trying to achieve with his Quirk.

Hoping that he was right, Izuku ducked into a half-collapsed shophouse along his path. He scrambled through the ruined interior, glad that he'd had the foresight to choose a building exposed to the burgeoning moonlit night. They were almost there, nearly at a door leading to the alley on the far side of the building.

"I – I don't see him," Eri suddenly whimpered, her arms tightening almost painfully around his neck. She sounded absolutely terrified. "Overhaul's disappeared!"

So it was the Yakuza boss himself, Overhaul, who was chasing them. Izuku filed the information away for now, breathing hard as they reached their exit. He started when Eri screamed, an entire section of wall crumbled into nothingness to their left.

Their pursuer loomed ominously in the twilight, backlit by the orange glow of burning buildings.

"I won't let you get away with her!" Overhaul roared. He touched another wall and a large pillar, both of which also disintegrated. The building groaned, concrete and masonry shifting ominously above their heads. Izuku inhaled sharply as he realized what was about to happen, diving for the door right as Overhaul placed his hands on the largest column yet.

It vanished into thin air, and the building fell down around them.

- BREAK -

Izuku found himself lying flat on his back, coughing amidst a thick cloud of dust. His head was throbbing with pain, causing him to wince as he attempted to recall exactly what had happened. He remembered trying to shield Eri, holding her tight as chunks of falling mortar and masonry smashed into the ground around them, until something heavy hit the back of his head. The shophouse was now completely destroyed, just a pile of rubble and wreckage dimly lit by the light of distant flames.

The sound of distant sirens snapped Izuku out of his daze. He spat onto the ground, grimacing at the taste of plaster in his mouth. Blood dripped from the knife still embedded in his cheek, red mixing into the thin coating of white dust which covered his face.

"Eri-chan!" he shouted, sitting up with a hiss of pain. The wrist on his right hand was probably sprained or fractured, given the redness and the swelling. "Eri-chan! Where are you?"

It was the crying which eventually alerted him to her location. Eri had collapsed next to a large pile of debris, the jacket Izuku had given her to wear nearly white with concrete dust. Her arm – her right arm was trapped under a massive block of concrete up to the elbow.

Eri wept uncontrollably as Izuku approached, trying hard not to wince at the state of her tiny, mangled limb. The damage was horrendous, the pulped, raw flesh and muscle of her forearm exposed where she'd been caught by the jagged rubble. It made him sick to his stomach, the thought that such a young child had to go through something like this.

"Hey, it's me. Eri-chan, it's me! Can you hear me?"

There was no getting through to the inconsolable little girl. Izuku managed to maneuver her into a sitting position, grimly assessing her injury as he analyzed their surroundings. Eri's limb was trapped between two large slabs of concrete. Both were much too large and heavy for him to shift, even with all four of his arms working together.

An enormous piece of masonry vanished into thin air, to reveal a figure wearing a long, pointed mask.

Izuku wanted to scream. How the hell was Overhaul still alive, let alone completely uninjured? Even his clothes were pristine! Did his Quirk work on himself somehow? If he could use it on other people as well – Izuku shuddered at the thought. Luckily the Yakuza boss was stuck on the far side of the ruins, although it wouldn't be long until he destroyed enough rubble to reach them.

Overhaul sneered at them as he used his Quirk to disintegrate another hunk of concrete. "There's no escaping me, little Eri," he called, "You were born to aid my quest to cleanse the world of sickness." More rubble disappeared, slowly clearing a path towards the two children. "I don't care who you are or why you're here, boy," Overhaul declared, addressing Izuku again. "You will not stop me from recapturing her. Leave at once, or become another victim of Eri's cursed existence."

Eri became utterly hysterical upon hearing Overhaul's words, frantically pulling at her right arm without concern for the damage she was causing to herself. Izuku blanched, unsuccessfully trying to keep her from further hurting her limb while she struggled in his grip. Blood began to flow freely, and he could almost hear the bones of her forearm, scraping along the jagged concrete as the little girl sawed it back and forth in an attempt to break free.

"Stop!" he yelled, grabbing hold of her shoulders. "Eri-chan! Don't hurt yourself like this!"

Eri didn't reply, not even looking at Izuku as she tugged desperately at her trapped limb. Nothing seemed to matter to her beyond getting free, not even pain or mutilation, and her panic only increased exponentially as the Yakuza boss drew closer. She began to cry, begging and pleading under her breath as she struggled to break free.

"No, please!" she sobbed quietly. "I don't want to disappear again. Please make him go away!"

It was almost physically painful for Izuku to see the little girl hurting herself like this.

As though triggered by the trauma, Izuku's thoughts went into overdrive. Pain, fear, anger – all of it was stripped away, discarded to reveal a cold, unyielding core of logic directing his consciousness. An elegant solution immediately presented itself to his ordered state of mind, but it came with a substantial cost. Was he willing to pay such a high price to save this girl?

The answer was YES.

Izuku gripped the handle of the knife embedded in his cheek, activating the power field as he pulled. The blade slipped out easily, although the pain was excruciating. Dark spots ate away at the edges of his vision and he almost blacked out. Another wave of nausea rose up at the disgusting sucking sensation in his ruined eye, but it was easy to ignore when compared with the blood and fluid dribbling down his face.

"Eri-chan," Izuku said softly. "Look at me, Eri-chan." The little girl shuddered when Izuku turned her to face him, the sight of his bloody eye socket shocking her into stillness. "We'll have to amputate your arm to get you free," he said simply, showing her the knife as he asked for permission.

All of her panic and fear seemed to melt away. In the end, Eri didn't hesitate at all. She nodded with what looked like relief, her small face set with an expression of determination.

"D – do you need my help?" she asked nervously. Izuku quickly tore several strips from his shirt and helped her with applying a tourniquet below her bicep, while she in turn helped him bandage over his mutilated eye with her free hand.

"Are you ready?" Izuku asked. He could tell Eri was still frightened, yet she nodded bravely.

Activating the power field once again, Izuku cleanly severed Eri's right arm just below the elbow. The little girl gasped and flinched backwards once he was done, but Izuku caught her in his arms before she could fall to the ground. He could feel her tremble as she cried silently into his chest.

"Hey, it's okay," he said soothingly. "We're all done. Nothing's gonna stop us from getting away, okay?" Izuku quickly wrapped up the wound, then turned back to check on the approaching gangster. Overhaul was getting uncomfortably close to their location, still snarling out threats at the two children.

Izuku scooped Eri up into his arms, wincing at the pain from his wrist, and simply fled for his life. He didn't look back, ignoring the thunderous roar of rage coming from the Yakuza boss. There was no way to tell where he was going, but he just kept running. Alleyways and deserted buildings flashed past in a blur, until finally Izuku's stamina gave out and he had to stop.

The pain in his wrist flared as Izuku set Eri down, leaning against a wall to catch his breath. "Are you alright, Eri-chan?" he panted. The little girl looked rather pale, gingerly cradling the stump of her arm as she shivered in the cold. Izuku himself wasn't doing much better, given that she was wearing his jacket and his shirt was partially ripped open.

"You're still bleeding," Eri said timidly, placing a small hand on Izuku's cheek.

Something broke inside Izuku's chest at the touch, releasing an overwhelming torrent of emotion. He staggered, tears flowing freely from all the feelings he'd been suppressing up to this point, half-collapsing until he was leaning against the wall. Izuku felt Eri move beside him, quietly hugging his arm in a silent show of support.

"T – thanks, Eri-chan," he hiccupped, smiling weakly at her through his tears. The little girl looked completely exhausted as she rested her head against his arm. "Let's keep going, okay?"

They set off once again, Eri dozing on Izuku's shoulder while he carried her on his back. He tried heading towards the faint sound of sirens in the distance, hoping to find a policeman or ambulance, but it was difficult to navigate in the darkness.

Familiar, high-pitched giggling made Izuku's heart skip a beat as cold dread pooled in his stomach.

"Guess who?" Toga's playful voice echoed around the alley, making it impossible to tell where she was hiding.

"Toga-san," Izuku said dully. She was the last person he wanted to see at the moment. "Sorry, I can't stay and chat."

"Aww! But we didn't finish our conversation earlier!" Toga dropped down from above, landing right in front of Izuku. Her eyes widened as they took in his appearance and the small girl slumbering on his back. "Wow, you have been busy! Did you get in a fight with one of those Yakuza assholes? I had to chase off one myself. Ugh, he was so rude!" A pale hand gently lifted Izuku's chin, tilting his head back and forth as Toga examined his injuries. "How long have you been running around like this, Izuku-kun? Fucking hell, you're going into shock!"

Izuku barely heard her words. A spell of dizziness made him wobble on his feet, and he nearly dropped Eri. Toga placed a firm hand on his chest, steadying him until the vertigo passed.

"Put the girl down before you collapse, Izuku-kun! Relax, I'm not going to hurt her," Toga added when Izuku glared at her. "She's way too cute for that. Besides, I'm interested in you, remember? Geez, it's not like I'm some sick psychopath or something."

Izuku really, really didn't want to give up his hold on Eri. But Toga was right; he could feel his strength slipping away with every lungful of chilly air which he took. Even worse, the maniacal schoolgirl might attack if he refused, and he was in absolutely no condition to fight her off.

"Give her your coat," he wheezed. "I'll put Eri-chan down if you give her your coat. I don't want her to freeze on the ground."

Toga's eyes glittered in the darkness. For a moment, Izuku was certain she would attack him. She reached deep into her jacket – only to pull out a thick, red knitted beanie before shrugging off her coat.

Letting out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, Izuku gently set Eri down against the wall of the alley. The little girl was still dozing, although she did clutch weakly at his arm when Izuku pulled away. Toga wrapped her coat around Eri with surprising tenderness, placing the red beanie on top of her head. It was too large for her, and would have slipped over her eyes if not for her little horn.

"Now, where were we?"

Toga leaned towards Izuku until they were almost face-to-face. She eyed the dried blood on his neck with an expression that could only be described as hungry, fangs peeking out of the corner of her mouth. Izuku tensed, but Toga didn't attack. Instead she stalked slowly around him, like a shark circling wounded prey, until she was standing directly behind him.

"I never told you what my Quirk does, did I?" she purred, resting her chin on his shoulder. Her arms encircled his torso, holding him tightly in a lover's embrace.

Shivers ran down Izuku's spine at Toga's hot breath next to his ear. "I know it's something blood related," he said wearily. "But I don't care. You're more than your Quirk, Toga-san. Look, I don't mind letting you have all the blood you want from me. As long as you promise to get Eri-chan to the police."

Toga froze. "You would do that for me?" she whispered.

Izuku opened his mouth to reply, but another dizzy spell made his vision darken once more. His head dipped even as Toga called out his name, and all of his strength seemed to disappear until he collapsed onto the ground.

When he came to, Toga was straddling his chest yet again in a mirror of their first encounter. The two of them stayed silent for a long time, neither saying a word as the blonde girl simply watched him breath in and out, slowly recovering some small measure of energy. There was something in her eyes, a glimmer of some new emotion which Izuku had no idea how to interpret.

"How do you do it?" Toga eventually broke the silence. "How do you keep being so – so kind? So heroic? Giving that little girl a second jacket when you're only wearing a shirt, saying you'll let me d – drink your blood. How?"

Izuku didn't know how to answer. "I'm no hero," he said softly. "I'm just a kid, like you. But I'm not going to turn away someone who needs my help." He closed his eyes, feeling something warm and wet trickling down the side of his face. "I won't abandon you, Toga-san."

Time passed.

The next thing Izuku knew, he was being lifted up onto a stretcher as paramedics fussed around him. He tried to sit up, but was forced back down as someone assured him that everything was all right. "Wheere's Eri-chaaan," he slurred. A small hand found its way into his own, and suddenly the pain he was experiencing didn't feel quite so bad. "Aand Toooga-san?"

There was no answering hand this time. His heart sank, tears mixing with the blood leaking from under his makeshift bandage. The paramedics loaded him into an ambulance, giving him the chance to look around one last time just before he was taken away.

In the distance, Izuku caught a glimpse of a pair of catlike eyes, gleaming in the night.

- BREAK -

The world itself was transformed by his anger as Chisaki Kai raged.

To have his base assaulted by the semi-mythical Meta Liberation Army –an all-out attack, no less – and to lose his most important asset to some idiot kid? It was as though Fate itself was conspiring against him. But Overhaul was nothing if not ambitious, and he adamantly refused to abandon his goal. Not even when faced with such a serious setback.

Of course, refusing to give up didn't mean that he wasn't furious.

"What the fuck happened?" he roared, venting his rage towards the uncaring heavens. "How could the Shie Hassaikai be defeated in such a pathetic manner?"

Chisaki took out his anger on another pillar, using his Quirk to erase it from existence. His most powerful lieutenants, who had all survived, cowered in the face of his furious rampage. All of the Eight Bullets were singed and several were badly wounded, Setsuno Toya in particular. Leaving them with the pain of their injuries would be the least of their impending punishments.

A splash of crimson against the jagged grey concrete caught his attention. Chisaki vanished a large chunk of masonry, to reveal the sad, crushed remains of a little girl's arm lying next to his shin. A vicious snarl escaped his throat when he picked it up, his teeth grinding together as blood smeared onto the gloves he was wearing.

"Boss – Overhaul-sama, if I may," Setsuno bowed, voice trembling with pain and fear. "Maybe we can use that."

Overhaul paused at his subordinate's observation, a hair's breath away from erasing the bloody reminder of his greatest failure. Could it work? He pulled off a glove, but instead of destroying the mangled limb, he focused his Quirk on restoring it instead. A moment later, and he found himself holding Eri's pristine, severed forearm within his grasp.

Perhaps Fate had not been so cruel after all.

"Bring me the cryogenic storage unit," Chisaki commanded, his rage forgotten. The anger still burned, but now it smoldered inside him like a banked furnace. Setsuno would not die for losing the child, or at least, not permanently. "Gather my notes and everything else you can carry. We must leave before the authorities arrive to investigate. The Shie Hassaikai will rebuild, this I swear upon my life!"

"My work shall not end here. I will not rest until this entire world is purged of sickness!"

- END -

A/N: Man this chapter was hard to get down. Might be quite controversial, too. I feel like I've already spent too much time on it though, so I decided to just get it out of the way and post it. I might rewrite certain sections if I have the time, but honestly I'd rather move on.

The lure of knowledge is extremely tempting for Izuku, which may come back to haunt him in the future. I also deliberately portrayed his reaction to Geten as a bit of a 'what the fuck are you talking about' moment.

To clarify, Izuku is much more emotionally invested in Toga here because he met her before she descended into madness. Just like how he never gave up wanting to be Bakugo's friend in canon despite all the shit he pulled because he's his childhood friend.

Apologies if you're disturbed by the mild gore. I can promise that this should be about as bad as it gets in the story.

The 'Eri becomes a surrogate sister/daughter to Izuku' thing is frankly overdone. The fics where he 'adopts' her or becomes her 'father' in particular often seriously strain my suspension of disbelief. I can understand why people enjoy it though, and I'm a massive hypocrite because I'll be pulling something similar here. Things won't be quite the same, of course, and I'm sure you can guess why.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!