"If you pick up that phone one more time, Shouta, I swear I will scream until it breaks," Hizashi threatened, pointing at the phone laying face down on the table between then with his fork. "This is vacation time. Not work time."
"I'm just checking in with-"
"Izuku is fine! Don't worry about it!" Hizashi shook his head, spearing another piece of pasta with his fork. "You worry too much and-"
Aizawa's phone started to ring, the sound blaring in the quiet restaurant. "That's Midoriya's ringtone." The hero argued, reaching for his phone again. This time Hizashi made no move to stop him, but the ringing cut off just as Aizawa was about to answer. He looked up at his friend, eyes narrowed.
"Maybe he didn't mean to call you?" Hizashi tried, but he pushed his plate away as he watched Aizawa tap quickly on his phone.
"It's not even ringing now," Aizawa said. "If his phone had died it would have gone straight to his voicemail."
"He can't have gotten himself in trouble again! He promised! No more dangerous situations when we aren't there!"
"I doubt that whoever is blocking his phone signal gave him much of a choice." Aizawa's expression remained blank as he stood up, but Hizashi had known him long enough to look for the signs of his panic-the slight trembling in his hands, the tremor in his voice.
"I'll take care of the bill," Hizashi said quickly. "Call Nedzu. See if he knows about a villain attack Izuku could have been caught up in. I'll meet you at the car."
Aizawa didn't argue, thankful for Hizashi taking charge. There could be any number of reasons for Midoriya's call, for his phone not working now. He couldn't allow himself to hope that any of them were true. Operating under the assumption that Midoriya was in danger once again was the best way to ensure his safety. If it turned out he was wrong, well then...Aizawa would be having a conversation with his student about keeping his phone charged and with him. If he wasn't...his panic wouldn't be for nothing.
Whatever the case, Nedzu better do whatever he could to help until Aizawa and Hizashi could get back to town. The man owed him after everything he had put them through.
"And you're sure that Kell will be the one sent to investigate?" Mei asked, contents of the supply closet spread out on the floor around her.
Izuku paced behind her. "I can't say for certain, but he's the most likely. You saw how they were. Ancile can't move while he's keeping the barrier in place. That much was in his profile from their first attacks. And Kell's quirk wouldn't be helpful in keeping all of the hostages in place. The second Sans left there would be nothing stopping them from fighting back. It's not like he can teleport at will. Not without his pre placed beacon. He's the only one that could leave and not have them lose control of the situation."
"Either way, we can't let this go on much longer. It's been about half an hour since the barrier went up. All Might could be here at any moment. If we don't get them separated before then, then they'll just do all of this again."
Mei reached into her backpack for something, adding it to the mix.
"And you're sure this won't get out of hand?" Izuku refused to regret whatever trouble they were going to be in for getting involved, but the situation would be a lot better for them if they didn't cause any lasting damage to the building. Best case scenario would involve them slipping away before anyone had even realized they were there. With the security system down it shouldn't be that difficult. It wasn't like Kell would be willing to admit he was taken out by two middle schoolers who hadn't even had to use their quirks on him.
At least that was the hope.
"It'll be fine," Mei said, not looking up from her supplies. "I know what I'm doing."
"That's not why I asked."
"I know." Mei shrugged. "It's more noise than anything. Get their attention, but that's about it. There's no chance of it spreading. Even with your terrible luck."
"Uh… You do know you just jinxed it. Right?"
"My knowledge of chemistry outweighs any jinx I might have caused. Trust in the genius, Izuku. I understand it might be a new concept for you but…"
Izuku could see her grin even though she still hadn't lifted her head. "As if a little thing like a jinx could stop the two of us."
The expected agreement or sarcastic comment never came. Izuku stopped pacing, turning to watch Mei's movements closely in the silence that followed. She had been so adamant to follow him, so confident that he wouldn't be able to handle the situation without him. He hadn't considered the fact that Mei had never faced a problem like this before. Izuku knew that she had never seriously considered joining the hero course, but he hadn't stopped to think about what that would mean for her in that exact moment.
Mei's unease wasn't obvious. Her hands didn't shake as she prepared their diversion. The determined look in her eyes didn't waver. But Izuku could see it, now that he had thought to look for it. He had been shaken by what they had seen, and this wasn't even the first hostage situation he had been involved in let alone his first experience with real violence. He should have thought to check on Mei before, because no matter how unaffected she acted there was no way that was anything but an act.
"Mei?" Izuku asked. When she still didn't look up he called again, louder. "Mei?"
Startled, she finally looked up, catching Izuku's eyes, her hands freezing over the open bottle of window cleaner. "Yes?"
"We're going to stop them, Mei. They aren't going to do this again." Izuku hadn't allowed himself to have his own breakdown about suddenly being thrown into danger. His first priority had been getting himself and Bakugou free. After that all he forced himself to focus on making sure Aizawa got the help he needed. By the time things had calmed down enough to think about what had happened- to really process the reality that he could have died had things been different, had Asahi not had a problem taking out his anger on two children- Izuku had forced his panic down far enough to bury it under as much cold reason and logic as he could.
He was training to be a hero, after all. That had only been the first time he had been threaten. It certainly wouldn't be the last. Letting it affect him wouldn't change anything. Only hurt him in the long run, when he found himself in yet another life-threatening situation. In hindsight, that hadn't been the best way to handle things. He shouldn't have expected Mei to respond the same way. She liked to joke about it, but Izuku didn't doubt that she was the smarter one between them.
Mei took a shaking breath before speaking. "Of course they aren't. We've got you here, haven't we?"
Having a friend, a real friend, had been a new experience for Izuku. He hadn't always known what to do or what to say. Hadn't always been able to offer Mei the advice she needed simply because he had never been had the opportunity to be that person for someone and had no idea what to do with it now that he did.
Even if he couldn't be certain that was he was saying was the right thing he had to say something.
Izuku took a step closer, kneeling down to sit beside Mei on the cold tiled floor. She looked at him for a second longer before pulling her goggles over her eyes, turning back to her project at hand.
"I think you mean they've got us," Izuku corrected. "Because I am not the one currently setting up the distraction, and I definitely wouldn't have been able to do this on my own."
"You would have figured something out."
"No, Mei," Izuku said, his voice firm. Mei looked up at him quickly and then away. "I wouldn't have been able to do this without you. I know this," he gestured vaguely around them," isn't what you want to do, but I'm glad we're in this together. I couldn't have asked for a better partner."
"I- Thanks, Izuku," Mei said, her voice soft. "I couldn't have asked for a better partner either."
"Now," he said, still wishing there was something else he could do to make the situation better. He would have to talk to Aizawa about that once his mentor was done lecturing him for this latest disaster. "Are we ready to take out some villains?"
This time Mei laughed. "Ready!"
The distraction worked just as Mei had said. Izuku watched as she added one last ingredient to her bucket, a mix of things she had found in the cleaning supplies and, unsurprisingly, her backpack. The moment the drop hit the mixture the solution began to smoke. Mei quickly moved them both out of the way.
"Don't let it touch you, by the way. It should start popping in just a sec."
Izuku whirled, eyes wide. "You said it was safe!"
"It is!" Mei argued, looking between the bucket and the escalator at the other end of the hallway. They had decided to set up their distraction on the second floor of the department store- close enough to catch their interest but far enough away that they wouldn't risk sending more than one villain to check out the disturbance. "It's perfectly safe! As long as you don't let it touch you."
"Mei-" Izuku started, but the rest of his sentence was drowned out by the small explosions that sounded from the solution like the poppers his mom had gotten him once before the fun of them had been ruined by Bakugou and the appearance of his quirk.
"No time!" She grabbed his hand, pulling him away from their distraction and into the rows of racks. The popping continued, smoke filling the air around them until Izuku felt like he would choke on it. Mei stopped halfway between the now frozen escalator and their diversion, pulling him down until they were tucked away behind a low table covered in handbags. Even from the escalator, Kell wouldn't be able to see them. "See. We're out of range now and everything is fine."
"You know that wasn't what I meant."
Mei shushed him in response.
Izuku could barely breathe as they waited, pressed against the wooden case. With each second that passed the tightness in his chest grew. Their plan had to work. It had to. Knock Kell out. Prevent them from getting away. Hope that All Might arrived to get the shielding down before Kell's siblings got suspicious.
"What if he doesn't come?" Mei asked after a moment.
"You just told me to be quiet!" Izuku whispered back. "And he'll come. You weren't kidding when you said it was loud. There's no way they would let this go on without checking it out."
They fell silent again, watching the escalator. A tense minute passed. Then another.
"Can't believe I have to miss out on all the fun," a voice grumbled. Mei reached out to grab his hand again. "Not like anyone would be stupid enough to do anything while we're here."
Footsteps echoed in the empty store before Kell emerged at the top of the stairs, his head immediately turning towards the bucket still crackling behind them. "What the-" He started towards the bucket.
And that, Izuku noted, was his first mistake.
Kell strode towards their distraction without a second thought, not bothering to look to see who might have set it up. A little of the panic Izuku had been feeling vanished as the villain moved passed their hiding place without a glance.
"If this is a joke or something," Kell said, inching closer to the bucket. He flinched back as the solution popped, back still facing them.
Izuku grinned. Mistake number two.
If their positions had been reversed, the moment Izuku had seen the bucket set up at the end of the hall he would have looked for the source. He wouldn't have walked towards it, wouldn't have leaned over the bubbling solution. He most definitely wouldn't have let himself be exposed the way Kell was.
Mei sent Izuku a questioning look, and he nodded, reaching into his bag until his hands found metal. Now was as good of a chance as they were going to get. Slipping back between the racks, Mei disappeared as Izuku stepped silently onto the tiled floor.
"Ridiculous," Kell complained, kicking at the bucket. It hit the ground with a thud, Mei's solution spilling out across the floor. Kell cursed, moving back as the liquid hit his shoes. Honestly, he couldn't have made the situation easier for Izuku if he tried. Whether his carefree attitude towards an obvious trap came from overconfidence or stupidity, Izuku didn't know. At the moment he didn't care.
"Hey!" Mei called, her voiced ringing too loud as the fizzing from the solution died out. "Don't you know it's dangerous to mess with chemicals like that?" Her voice shook as she spoke, but the determined expression on her face didn't waver. Izuku moved closer, Kell's attention now firmly fixed on Mei.
"Don't you know it's never a good idea to antagonize villains?" Kell responded. He took a step forward, shoes slick in the cleaner. Mei took a step back. "I'm not sure you really understand the reality of the situation here."
Izuku hated that Mei had to be the one to get Kell's attention, but it was better than the alternative. Kell still didn't look behind him as Izuku quickly closed the distance between them.
"That's only for real villains," Mei said. "Without your quirk you're basically useless. All are you is the get away car, and no one in their right mind is afraid of that."
"Do you not know who I am?" Kell asked. "Do you not know what I've done?"
"I know what your sister has done. But you?" Mei laughed, her goggles flashing. "You only got the attention you did because of your siblings. Without them you wouldn't be anything special. You're the reason you got caught in the end right? Maybe if you had better control of your quirk you never would have been arrested."
Izuku didn't need to see Kell's face to know that he was fuming. "And they wouldn't have been able to do anything at all without me and my quirk!" He argued back.
Mistake number three.
"They wanted big, flashy shows with their quirks, and that comes with risks! Without me they would have been arrested the first time they tried to take over a place like this! Useless without my quirk? I have the most valuable quirk out of the three of us."
Mei pretended to think about it for a second, pulling on the end of her hair. "Teleporting? More important than that impressive shielding? And those bombs? Please. I knew you weren't talented, but I didn't know you were delusional too."
"What-"
Izuku had completely closed the distance between them now. That close it was impossible to ignore the similarities between their current situation and his confrontation with Asahi. Too villains caught talking when they should have been taking action. Izuku didn't have to think about what he needed to do next.
"Hey, asshole," Izuku said.
Kell turned, stepping away from Mei as Izuku swung, an eskrima rod slamming into his stomach a second before a fist collided with his throat. Kell dropped to the ground, gasping.
Absently, Izuku wondered if this was going to be a trend.
"Nice one, Izuku!" Mei said.
Quickly, Izuku shoved the metal rod back into his bag, swapping it out for a t-shirt he had torn while Mei had done her chemistry genius set-up. Their plan had actually worked. Despite how simple it had been, Izuku had assumed that something would go wrong. It had to. The universe wouldn't allow anything else. But here they were, Kell still struggling to breathe on the ground between them. All Izuku needed to do was tie him up and they could get out of the way. The police would never need to know they were involved. The Terror Twins would be back in jail. Everything would be fine.
Izuku had almost thirty seconds of hope before the illusion of success shattered with the windows. They blew in with such force that Izuku and Mei were both knocked off their feet and sent sliding into the carpeted floor. Izuku crashed into the wardrobe behind him, his head smashing into the shelving.
Too soon. Just in time.
All Might had arrived, Izuku thought, and the world went black.
The first thing Izuku saw when he came to was a pair of impossibly blue eyes staring at him. He blinked slowly, trying to focus, and when his vision became clear again he almost wished he hadn't. Because he recognized those blue eyes, that blond hair.
All Might leaned over him, his expression full of concern. "Are you alright, my boy?"
And that-Izuku's brain ground to a halt before lurching back into full speed. Izuku and Mei had just attacked a villain on their own, and yeah they hadn't used quirks, but that didn't make their actions any more legal. Their plan had been to get away before anyone even knew they were there, but of course something had to have gone wrong. Izuku had known that it would. Had it been anyone else standing over them, he wouldn't have hesitated to make up a story, to spin some lie to get them out of this trouble. Once upon a time he would have been horrified at the thought, but now…
It hadn't been anyone else though. Izuku couldn't lie to All Might. There was no hero that Izuku respected and liked more than Aizawa. His place as Izuku's favorite hero had been cemented for a long, long time, and Izuku knew that wouldn't be changing. Aizawa had done too much for him, been too important for him to think otherwise. Before he had shown up at Aizawa's apartment asking for the hero to train him though, the hero Izuku had wanted to be like more than anyone else had been All Might.
That wasn't something that he could forget so easily.
All Might had been the first person to inspire him. The person that made him want to be a hero in the first place. Izuku never would have gone searching for Aizawa Shouta in the first place if it hadn't been for the Number One Hero, and that was a debt Izuku felt he would never be able to repay whether All Might knew what he had done for him or not.
"I'm-I'm fine," Izuku said slowly, his mind on overdrive as he tried to think of an explanation that wouldn't end with them getting arrested, and Aizawa- Izuku couldn't let Aizawa be punished for something that he had done no matter the fact that he didn't regret what they had done. "Mei- My friend. Is she okay?"
Izuku tried to look passed All Might to where he had last seen Mei, but the hero blocked the way.
"Your friend is fine. She's being checked out by medical. I wanted to make sure you were awake before they tried to move you." All Might's words were perfectly normal, but there was something in his expression that Izuku couldn't place, some emotion that Izuku couldn't put a name to.
"Thank you," Izuku said, unsure of what else to say. How were you supposed to respond when you woke up to find your first personal hero standing over you after you?
All Might opened his mouth to speak but stopped, looking over his shoulder. Kell sat handcuffed a short distance behind them. Slowly, All Might looked between Izuku and the villain before raising an eyebrow, the question clear in his eyes.
Izuku froze. He couldn't lie to All Might, and even if he did he had a feeling the hero would know that he wasn't telling the truth. But could he really admit to what they had done. All Might had clearly been about to ask him the question out loud before he thought better of it. Did that mean he wasn't going to get Izuku and Mei in trouble for getting involved?
How did All Might even think to ask that?
Mind reeling, Izuku made a split second decision. Meeting All Might's eyes, he gave a sharp nod. The hero hadn't asked about Mei. If he turned them in, Izuku could take the blame himself. Aizawa wouldn't be happy, but he couldn't throw his friend under the bus just so that he wouldn't face the punishment alone.
To his surprise though, All Might said nothing. He simply stared at Izuku for a moment longer before nodding in return.
"All Might!" Another voice said, a police officer appearing over the hero's shoulder. "Is the kid awake now?"
"He is." All Might answered, still looking at Izuku as if there was something he wanted to ask but didn't know how.
The officer gave him a small smile. "My name is Tsukauchi. We need to get you checked out by medical, and I'm sure you want to get home, but I'm afraid I have a few questions I need to ask you first. If that's alright?"
Izuku glanced between the officer and All Might, but the hero made no move to share what he had learned. "That's fine."
"Your name is Midoriya Izuku, correct?"
"That's right."
"The rest of this store had been evacuated by one of the employees. What you you and…" He paused glancing at his notepad. "What were you and Hatsume Mei still doing here?"
What would Mei have told them? What was the simplest, most believable story?
"I recognized their voices," Izuku said. "Before the attack. I like studying hero's quirks, strategy, things like that. I heard her laugh and I recognized it from their trial. When I realized what was going on I pulled Mei into a closet to hide just to be safe." That part was true enough, as long as no one thought to check the security cameras from before the feed was cut. "We heard the rest of the store being evacuated, but we didn't want to move. It seemed safer in a room with a door we could block than in an open hallway."
Logical excuse. Tsukauchi wrote a quick note on his pad without looking at Izuku.
"We found a bucket and cleaning supplies spilled onto the floor in this hallway. How did that happen?"
That would be harder to explain and was the exact reason they had wanted to be as far away from the scene as they could by the time the police arrived. "We heard someone else moving in the hallway," Izuku said finally, looking down at his shoes, his hands twisting nervously. Maybe Tsukauchi would see is as nerves from the attack and not from the obvious lie he was about to tell. "He was just outside the door where we were hiding. I don't know why he was there...but we panicked. I think he heard us moving or something because he opened the door and started to drag us out. We just grabbed whatever we could and started throwing it at him." That would fit with the open bottles they had left on the floor while Mei had set things up.
"If All Might hadn't broken those windows when he did, we would have been in a lot of trouble." Izuku said, making sure to meet Tsukauchi's blank gaze with a wide eyed look of his own. "It knocked us back, but it made Kell let us go."
The story wasn't the best, but Izuku hoped that it was believable enough. The detective had no real reason to think that they had done anything they weren't supposed to, but if he thought that Izuku was lying…
"Think nothing of it, my boy!" All Might boomed, his voice startling Izuku and Tsukauchi both. "I'm just glad that I was able to get here in time to help! It sounds like you and young Hatsume were very brave."
All Might...All Might had backed him up? Even when he knew that everything Izuku had just said was a lie? Izuku stared at the hero, eyes wide.
"Now, I believe it's time we make sure young Midoriya doesn't have a concussion from that fall and get him home. If that's everything, Tsukauchi-san?"
"That's all for now," Tsukauchi answered, flipping his notebook closed. "If we have any more questions we'll get in touch, but that should be everything."
"Right this way, Midoriya," All Might said, placing a hand on Izuku's shoulder to lead him away. "I'm sure your friend is worried sick over you."
All Might escorted him to the medical tent that had been set up outside the mall and then disappeared after shooting Izuku one last questioning look, his hand squeezing his shoulder for a moment before letting go. Izuku tried to watch as he made his way through the crowd but was distracted as Mei slammed into him, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.
"They bought the story, Izuku! I can't believe they bought it! We did it!" Her smile was infectious. Izuku couldn't help but smile back.
"We really did it."
After that, things moved quickly. Once Izuku had also been cleared by medical- no concussion, Aizawa would have killed him- they were ushered into separate cars Tsukauchi had designated to take them home. Without Kell to teleport them away all three of the villains had been captured, and the police were eager to get two unaccompanied minors away from the scene.
"I'll come by tomorrow if Aizawa-san hasn't killed you by then," Mei said, giving him one last hug.
"Same to you."
The car ride was short and silent. The officer assigned to drive him home made no attempt at small talk, and for that Izuku was grateful. The weight of what they had been through and done was finally hitting him, and all he wanted to do was climb into bed and sleep for at least ten hours. The cop let him outside his apartment building, and Izuku trudged up the stairs cursing the fact that their building didn't have an elevator.
He would have to explain to his mother what had happened eventually, but maybe he would be able to rest a little bit first. Or drink a cup of coffee at the least. Something to recover from the burnout he was feeling at the moment.
Swinging open their front door Izuku called, "Mom! I'm home!" It was another second before he finally had his shoes off, and when he looked up Inko stood with her hands on her hips, her expression firm, Aizawa and Hizashi flanking her on either side.
"A villain attack at the mall!" Inko said, and for once she didn't rush to hug him immediately, her eyes flicking as she looked him up and down. No doubt checking for injuries.
"It wasn't my fault." Izuku hurried to explain. "There were hostages. Mei and I had to do something.
"What did you do?" Inko asked, her voice rising and oops. All Might had been the only one to know the full extent of his contact with Kell. Of course the cop that called wouldn't have said anything about it. Izuku could have phrased his explanation a little better.
"One week, Midoriya. I wasn't even gone a whole week."
He was going to have a lot of explaining to do, and this time All Might wouldn't be there to back him up.
AN: I'm not dead, but my motivation definitely has been. Slightly longer chapter this week to make up for it.
Thanks to everyone who commented on the last chapter!
Up Next: Demonstrations