Authors Note: This one is much longer than the last few. I own nothing.

For Their Lives

The text came out of nowhere, Todoroki almost ignored it. But he checked his phone out of instinct. It was a GPS location sent by… Midoriya? There was no text, no explanation or comment of what the location was. He'd gone stock still, unnoticed by his father. Midoriya wasn't the kind to send out cryptic messages. He honestly had only received a few text messages from her. While they had all been about school, they all contained her regular speech pattern, tending to ramble on for a bit. This was different. He opened the location. She shouldn't have been in Hosu, her internship was in a smaller agency, the only one who had sent her an invitation. It was with a hero he'd never heard of, she'd seemed a bit nervous when he'd bid her farewell at the bullet train station. If she was in Hosu, with everything that was happening… He turned on his heel and ran. The address wasn't too far away. Endeavor tried to call him back but he ignored him, choosing instead to shout the address over his shoulder at his father. Once he'd finished he would send heroes there, or come himself. Todoroki didn't care. If Midoriya was in trouble he was going to help no matter what.

If you asked her why she got off the train against Grand Torino's orders she would point out that she had at least seen what the other Nomu was capable of, she could be of some strategic help in this fight. But when she'd seen Manual, desperate to find Iida she'd switched tracks without a second thought. These Nomu weren't nearly as strong as the other one. The pros were holding their own but if she was right about why Iida had taken the internship here then he could be in life threatening danger.

She zipped along alleys bounding from wall to wall with the ease of someone who'd been doing this for years, not a day. Full Cowling was a fantastic feeling, even through the anxiety eating at her she could admit that. One of her greatest assets to her had proven to be what was blocking her from using One for All properly, she was overthinking it. Now that she let the power flow through her she felt freer than she'd ever felt in her entire life. Lightning swirled and flashed around her, bright green and exhilarating. But she had to focus. Iida could be in trouble or worse.

She'd been reading about the hero killer, how could she not? His acts and what little was known about him had been all over the news for weeks. If his pattern held here in Hosu like it had in the other places he'd attacked he would be out of the way, somewhere there weren't a lot of people. He left heroes for dead in back alleys and abandoned buildings. She glanced around and changed course on a dime. She'd found what she was looking for.

Iida slammed his eyes closed. He was going to die in a back alley, his brother would be so disappointed in him. The legacy of Ingenium would die with him. He hadn't been able to take down this horrible villain. Then a familiar voice made him snap his eyes back open.

"Smash!" Midoriya's fist slammed into Stain's face sending him flying down the alley away from both Iida and the hero he'd forgotten about. She landed softly. She looked different. For one thing that insanely hard punch had not even phased her. Her arm was not broken. Green lightning sparked around her.

"Midoriya?" He choked out. He still couldn't move. She dropped into a fighting stance.

"Don't worry Iida, I'm gonna save you!" Iida couldn't believe that she was even here, much less standing up to Stain. Midoriya was powerful sure but she lacked control, as Aizawa liked to point out. Or at least she had lacked control. Stain didn't seem to have seen her coming. And she was still in one piece after that punch.

She couldn't run. Iida couldn't move, and the other hero in the alley looked paralyzed too. She wasn't going to leave them to the hero killer no matter what. Stain questioned her motives. It gave her time to slip her phone out one handed and send off her location. She hoped her hunch was right.

"Listen to me, stand down! Run! This has nothing to do with you!" She clenched her fists at Iida's words.

"If you really believe that then why are you trying to become a hero at all?" Her words seemed to shock all present. "There are plenty of things I'd like to say, but they'll have to wait. All Might was right though. Getting involved when you don't have to is the essence of being a hero!" With no more preamble than that she lunged.

It almost went the way she wanted it to. A tiny nick on her bicep, just deep enough to draw blood proved her undoing. But it wasn't the cut that had triggered the Hero Killer's quirk it was when he licked her blood from his sword that she had found herself frozen. The Hero Killer regarded her for a moment, gently brushing her long green hair out of her face with his sword. Iida made a noise of protest, near panic from further down the alley.

"This society is rotten, the word hero has lost its meaning. Too many people pursuing the word for personal gain and glory. But not you." He let his sword drop from where it rested on her face. She blinked, confused. "There are few true heroes in this world, those who deserve to live. You are one of them girl." He stepped down the alley back toward Iida. He stopped above the speedster and lifted his sword again. "You fought to protect these two, you didn't try to just take your friend and run, or even go for help. You're quick you might have found some before I did them both in. But you risked your life for them. You deserve to live. Not these two."

"No! Leave him alone! Stop!" Her protests fell on deaf ears as Stain made to drive his sword through Iida's neck. But he never got the chance.

Todoroki got there just in time to shoot a blast of flame at the hero killer, forcing him back away from Iida, he kept the stream up until the hero killer was forced back passed where Midoriya was crouched, unmoving.

"Midoriya." She blinked at him, she seemed unable to move. "You need to be more specific in situations like this." He held up his phone, still displaying the GPS location. His mind was racing as he sent his ice out, collecting the three downed heroes and defending them all from the killer. If he had gotten here just a few minutes later there was no telling what Stain could have done. Killed Iida certainly but Midoriya. She could have been… he refused to think about it as he began to fight the hero killer.

The fight couldn't have lasted more than ten minutes but it felt like hours. But between Midoriya's clever observations and tenacity, his ice and fire working together in a real fight for the first time, and Iida refusing to give up they had him. He seemed to be out cold as Todoroki tied him up and Midoriya divested him of his knives. Iida's arms were still too messed up to be of much use. Once she was done taking every knife she could find from him she turned to the hero still on the ground.

"Are you ok?" She reached out a hand to him and set her uninjured foot as she pulled the hero, who introduced himself as Native, to his feet. Her left ankle was bleeding badly and she was wobbling like she was tired. It didn't surprise him as he steadied her and she smiled at him. She grinned back and Todoroki felt his heart do another flip.

"I'm ok Shoto." She blushed slightly using his first name, even though he had chosen that as his hero name. He nodded as Native offered to carry her since her leg was wounded. It was the least he could do after they had saved his life like that. Todoroki dragged Stain behind them as they made their way to the main streets. Grand Torino was the first hero they ran into, a more literal statement than it would normally have been as he decided to introduce himself by slamming his foot into Midoriya's face. Native was gentle about letting Midoriya back to her feet once the ambulance had been called. Shoto would have gladly taken over carrying her if she needed it but before he could voice that suggestion something zoomed out of the sky and snatched her out of the cluster of heroes. She didn't even get the chance to cry out.

Shigiraki was annoyed. Stain hadn't been what he wanted at all. A pretentious bastard with a holier than thou attitude who thought All Might was worthy of being a hero. Then there was the fact that the other man had stabbed him just as he had almost healed from the disaster at the USJ. Now Endeavor had roasted two of his three Nomu. And the little green brat was here. He giggled lightly as he watched the winged Nomu ascend quickly to heights beyond the heroes reach. At least he could watch the master's creation tear apart All Might's little fangirl. Even Endeavor didn't dare make a move and risk hitting the girl. Maybe today wouldn't be such a bust after all.

None of them even saw Stain move. One second he was behind Shoto, bound with the rope the boy had found in the dumpster, the next he was free. He grabbed the blonde hero and licked the Nomu's blood from her face. Instantly the thing twitched before dropping in altitude. Its wings were still spread but it was paralyzed, Izumi still in its talons. She cried out as the ground began to rush towards them and the claws around her middle tightened instinctively, just enough for them to bite into her skin through her suit. But Stain wasn't done yet. He catapulted himself up to meet the falling beast, wielding a knife he'd pulled from god knew where. He drove the blade deep into the things exposed brain and grabbed Izumi by the collar of her suit, yanking her out of the way of the falling mass.

All of this happened within a few seconds, leaving the heroes stunned. Shoto squared back up, ready to fight. His mind was going a mile a minute. They had to get Izumi out of his grip. She was bleeding more now. Two slashes in her left side, and one on her right from the Nomu's claws. If Stain got another taste of her blood she'd be truly helpless in his hands. The thought made Shoto's blood boil. But Stain dropped her collar once they landed, he used the Nomu to break both of their fall. Izumi flinched away, but with her injured arm and leg there wasn't much else she could do. But Stain wasn't paying her anymore attention. His mask had come loose and fell from his face. Every hero in the vicinity was frozen with fear at the hero killer's pronouncement. Then he suddenly stopped. Just froze, eyes rolled back in his head, even though he remained standing.

Iida and Shoto were the first to move. They raced past the immobilized villain and to Izumi's side. The sound of sirens approaching spurred the other heroes into motion. Grand Torino was by their side in a moment as Endeavor set about restraining Stain. Izumi was shaking slightly but aside from the wounds she'd gotten fighting Stain and the new slashes on her side, which weren't deep, she was alright. Grand Torino shook his head.

"I told you to stay on the train kid." Iida spoke up.

"With all due respect sir, if she had I would be dead." Native had joined them, and he nodded in agreement and began to regale the older hero with the story of the fight. Shoto was still focused on Izumi though.

"Do you think you can stand?" She huffed out a breath and shook her head. Shoto scooped her up easily. She was tiny, barely reaching five feet in height after all. She didn't seem to weigh a lot. Her weight had to be muscle based, he mused as he stood, carrying her bridal style. He didn't care about the look his father sent their way, a calculating look that he didn't really like.

Two ambulances pulled around the corner and screeched to a halt. Endevor saw to Stain as the other heroes ushered Iida, Shoto and Izumi into the second ambulance. Shoto was the least injured of the three of them so he set Izumi down on one of the gurnies and sat on the edge of it while Iida was loaded onto the other one. Native came with them, along with Grand Torino, who sat in the front of the ambulance. Manual joined him as the EMTs began to work on them, carefully removing Iida's armor and Midoriya's shoe. Shoto let out a long breath. He let the tension that had been building since he'd stepped into that alley release. They were going to be alright. Midoriya gave him an exhausted smile that he returned. They both glanced at Iida who nodded his thanks. Native smiled at Shoto and Izumi.

"You two make a really cute couple." Izumi went bright red and began to flail stammer until the EMTs ordered her to stop moving and exacerbating her wounds. Native frowned. "I'm sorry I just assumed since he was the one you sent your distress call to that you two were together." Izumi shook her head.

"No I figured he was in the area. I knew that there were a lot of heroes in the area but not all of our classmates have internships in the area. But I knew your dad would want to try and track down the hero killer Todoroki." He nodded, but Izumi couldn't help but notice the slight pink dusting to his cheeks.

"You can call me Shoto." She blushed a deeper red.

"Sorry. I keep forgetting you picked that for your codename." He shook his head.

"No. You can just call me Shoto." She blinked at him and nodded slightly.

"Then you can call me Izumi, if you want." They both looked away from each other as Native shot Iida a look that seemed to ask 'is it always like this?'. Iida nodded.