I almost didn't get this one out today, but here we are.
Kagami was so screwed.
He had been running for so long now.
He ran and ran and ran. The rain pouring from the night sky made it hard to keep his balance and, unfortunately for him, the rain also drowned out all of his pleas for help. His bare feet cut through puddles of water as he ran right through them.
The rain, however, did not drown out the drone of motorcycles in the distance. He could hear them circling the empty streets as they hunted him down. Kagami's grip on his backpack tightened instinctively.
He had to get away. The guys after him wanted what he had. Finding a Pro would mean going to prison, but he'd at least live.
Well, at least until the guys chasing him got to him on the inside.
The buildings around him were all dark and the roads were empty. His heart sank as he realised that the buildings were all abandoned. Still though, maybe he could find one to hide in.
He turned on a dime to go into another street, but he had to reverse course as he saw red. The red cloak of one of his pursuers glowed underneath the dim light of the streetlamps above. The matte black of the man's motorcycle seemed to suck in all light.
"Don't make this harder than it has to be, Kagami!"
Kagami activated his Quirk and he was able to outrun his assailant. His legs triple in size He only had just about one minute left before he'd be all out of juice. His daily limit was about to hit zero and then he'd be a sitting duck.
Thankfully, the others hadn't found him just yet. He slowed to a stop as he turned another corner. He was a lot faster than their motorcycles but they just kept finding him.
It was scary. He took multiple turns, he kept to the darker streets and he even knocked over trashcans as decoys. They still found him every time.
The worst part was they were teasing him. The second they found him, they'd let him activate his Quirk and run away. As if they knew that no matter what he did or where he ran, he could not and would not escape what was coming.
Kagami was starting to feel that way too.
He had never had this problem before. When he had done errands for his bosses none of the Pros assigned to him could get even a whiff of him. His devices were all untraceable and few people ever saw his face.
Furthermore, with the rain, it had to be near impossible to sniff him out in an open field let alone this maze of abandoned property. How were they doing it?
He stopped near the alcove of a nearby building. He tried with all his might to bust down the door, but it didn't work. He could try to go bust the windows open, but that would only expose where he was.
This was it, wasn't it?
"Come on, Kagami," he said to himself leaning his head against the stubborn door, "There had to be somewhere he could go."
Kagami looked up in inspiration and right as lightning streaked across the sky, he got a glimpse of someone in the skies. He couldn't discern much, but the brief glimpse was like a warning signal all on its own.
They were tracking him from above.
He had to go somewhere where they couldn't see him. The apartments were all a bust. He had a feeling that all of them were equally inaccessible. There couldn't just be apartments around here though, right?
Maybe there was something else. Like a parking structure or an abandoned factory or something. He heard the sounds of motorcycles gradually get louder even through the rain. He scanned for anywhere to run to and he almost cried in relief as he saw an enormous structure through the gaps between the buildings.
If he could get inside there then he could definitely lose his pursuers.
Kagami exploded out of the alcove as he made way for the mall. His legs were burning with exhaustion and fatigue. This was definitely his last shot. That was beside the point, though.
He had to make it or it was all over.
The structure which he recognised as an abandoned mall was now just a few seconds away. The blare of motorcycles became ever louder as they closed in on him — evidently, they were tired of this cat-and-mouse game.
Kagami didn't look back even as the street became awash with light from the motorcycles. There were about four of them. Five if he counted the person directing traffic from the air.
As he saw the glass panoramic windows of the mall up ahead, he gritted his teeth in preparation.
This was going to suck.
Kagami sped up to his limit and ignored the screeching pain in his legs. He pumped with perfect form despite the situation. His sprinting form having been perfected long ago.
When he was about twenty metres away from the mall, he jumped.
A deluge of water was kicked up as he used the remnants of his energy to propel up and into the air. As he heard the motorcycles behind him brake harshly, he swung his foot from behind him at the glass window. It was just one single kick standing between him and freedom.
Time seemed to slow down for him as he neared his escape. The decisions and circumstances leading to his current predicament flashed through his mind.
He never used his quirk to attack others. He wasn't that bad of a person.
He had even wanted to be a hero when he was young. The increased power in his leg muscles wasn't as good as that Ingenium guy. He ran out of juice the more he ran and the more he ran the longer it took to fill back up.
Needless to say, that dream didn't take off.
If he had had the same genetic adaptations as the Iida, then maybe he could have made it a Pro. Perhaps he could have worked alongside Ingenium too. A two-for-one deal or something.
Of course, life had other plans for him and instead of being a famous and adored hero, he became a courier for some...shady people. He was good at it too, one of the best in fact.
He just got a little greedy, sometimes.
The window was right in front of Kagami's face and he could see his own reflection as he was about to plough through the window. He tensed in anticipation expecting to hear the sound of shattering glass.
Instead, he saw a flash of red before something ploughed into him from the side. He flipped through the air before landing in a heap on the ground. He heard a few snaps and cracks as he rolled on the wet concrete.
His body rolled to a stop right next to the wall of the mall he had almost broken into. He tried to scramble to his feet, but a lance of pain shot up his right ankle as soon as he put pressure on it.
A guttural groan escaped from his mouth as he fell onto his ass. He leaned back against the wall and through the fog of pain he became vaguely aware of the motorcycle gang stopping right in front of him.
They had left their headlights on and so he couldn't discern the features of the five people in front of him. They were probably just the cleaners for the Red Jackets. An unimaginative name, but that didn't matter.
They were dangerous.
No ordinary criminal group could survive these days after all.
"You did well, Kagami," the leader said and Kagami could see some avian features on the man's face, " If I didn't have my Owl Quirk, you probably could have gotten away. Still, though, you entertained my men for quite some time. Usually, our targets don't have the gumption you do."
"Then again, perhaps you weren't brave," the Owl said, "It is rather unwise to steal from us. It's impressive you managed to lug that thing around, but you didn't think you could actually get away with this? Did you? Oh my God, you did!"
Kagami could do nothing but stare at the man. His body hurt far too much for him to do anything else. The raindrops pouring on him were like icy needles biting at him and keeping him awake. The deafening deluge had now faded to just a light drizzle.
It was over. He wouldn't beg or grovel for his life. That wasn't his style.
He'd face his death with dignity.
That would make one admirable thing he'd done in his life.
"Alright, give me the bag and then we'll make this quick," the leader said and Kagami frowned as he saw the four men behind holding rifles.
Kagami didn't move.
"If you want the bag then you're gonna have to pry it from my cold, dead—"
Kagami's speech was cut short as a sixth shadow was cast onto the wall. He was the first to notice and judging by the surprise of all the Red Jackets this definitely wasn't in the script for tonight.
"Don't you dare shoot until my say-so, " Owl said as they all turned their backs on Kagami, "The rain is starting to clear up. Once it clears up in the town proper, we need to be gone."
Through the gaps of the Jackets' formation, he could see a man shrouded in a black cloak. The Jackets all took up position aiming their guns at him. Kagami felt like screaming at the new arrival to get out of the way.
"Identify yourself," Owl said firmly, "Or face the consequences."
"You're just going to kill me anyway," a familiar disembodied voice said and in his daze, Kagami could not place where he had the voice.
"Fukurou, be careful!" said one of the gunmen, "He's that masked guy. I've seen stuff on the internet. Everyone's calling him Kage!"
Fukurou made an odd noise in his throat as he looked at Kage, "You're the one in the news for all those night time rescues. You haven't been seen on camera since that gym incident three months ago and yet there are plenty rumours of what your Quirk is."
"Shadow control, super speed, flying, astral projection, the list goes on," Fukurou said seemingly unfazed, "I'm not scared of you. Your legend has been overblown by cowards living vicariously through you."
Through the harsh light of the motorcycle headlamps, Kagami could see Kage's hands clasp each other. His long sleeves made it so that his hands weren't visible. Fukurou either did not care or did not notice.
"I believe in what I see and what I see is one man surrounded by four men with rifles," Fukurou said raising his hand, "You can join us or—"
Kage interrupted Fukurou, "I'd never work with a group of lowlife scum like you!"
Fukurou exhaled.
"Kill away."
There was a loud whoosh before the loud staccato of gunfire filled the air. Kagami's ears practically burst from the explosion in volume. Kagami barely had a second to scream in horror before a white mask appeared above him.
He was dragged upwards at speeds that far, exceeded what he was capable of at his best. By the time they slowed down, he realised that he was on top of the mall. A hand covered his mouth
"Quiet, you're safe," Kage said his eerie voice making Kagami sweat despite the drizzling of rain, "I will handle as many of them as I can. Now tell me. How important is this bag?"
Kagami watched as the Jackets stared at the spot Kage had been standing. In their haste to hurt Kage, they had damaged their own motorcycles and probably attracted a ton of Pro Heroes. Amazingly, there was no explosion just the motorcycles enveloped in flames.
"It has a lot of stolen stuff from them," Kagami said truthfully before his tone switched to a confused one as Kage picked up the bag, "Wait, what are you—"
The man twirled rapidly before letting the bag fly with a grunt of exertion. The bag sailed through the air at a rapid speed and out the corner of his eye, Kagami saw Kage move his hands.
The bag slammed into the back of one of the gunmen and a second later, Kagami heard something land beside him. His eyes widened as he saw his bag next to him.
What the hell?
He flicked his eyes back to Kage who was now standing atop the downed gunman. Kage got off the incapacitated man before disappearing. A sharp scream of pain drew his attention and he turned to see Kage a full fifty metres away with another gunman on his back.
The gunman was thrown down to the ground in a hard slam. The gunman had long flowing hair that tried to snare Kage, but just before they wrapped around the vigilante he was replaced by another one of the gunmen.
The hair controller was unaware of the switch and he slammed his own comrade into the gravel with a sickening thump. There were only two now and Fukurou seemed to be far from the poised disposition he had had earlier.
Kage stood where a gunman had just been. He seemed to slip due to the rain, but that didn't really take away from how untouchable he seemed.
"Fukurou, we need to leave," said the last henchman, "The rumours were true! Not even Pros can catch this guy! Plus we already fired those gunshots. We have no chance!"
"We can still esca—" Fukurou said he turned in a random direction, "You were right, Kekkaron."
"Stop right there, gentlemen," a woman in skin-tight clothing said her tone alluring and warm, "I was having such a good time with a friend of mine and you had to ruin that. You'll pay for that."
Kagami was about to speak when something wrapped around his mouth.
"Don't."
Kagami did not. At least for now, he was relieved that Pros were on the scene. He'd worry about potentially getting killed in prison later.
In a second, everything had gone to hell.
Izuku was screwed. Terribly screwed.
Midnight was here. One of the teachers at UA. He'd expected the nearest hero agency would have responded to the call, not the UA staff!
He should have known, though. The mall was close to UA. The gunshots would have drawn their attention and they had probably alerted other agencies as well.
"Who do we have here?" Midnight said as she looked him up and down, "Not bad. Although...I prefer black clothes to be made of leather really. It's more...appealing..."
Despite the situation, Izuku felt his face heat up underneath his mask. Whether it was all an act or not, Midnight had a way of getting underneath people's skin.
It was so effective it almost distracted him from the ropes flying through the air.
He used the Body Flicker to move to the top of the lowest building nearby. The ropes struck where he had been standing with quite some force. He strongly fought back against the urge to puke. He could pull it off, but the drawbacks were still there.
No wonder it was usually just for travel.
Wait, he was in the middle of a battle
Izuku looked down to the ground and he nearly fainted as he saw all the gang members enveloped in Midnight's pink mist. Well, that was that. They wouldn't be up for a while.
"What the hell Aizawa?!" Midnight said and he followed her gaze to a man standing atop the mall rooftop, "I took out five of these guys and you missed your target? Maybe Hizashi has a point about you being lazy."
The man sighed heavily.
"Two of the five you took out were already incapacitated."
The man had shaggy, black hair and he was wrapped in a long, white scarf. After three months of training with Itsuka, he could recognise it as a battle scarf.
Not many people used those.
However, the feature that stuck out the most to Izuku was the bright yellow goggles that the man currently wore.
Black hair? Check. Battle scarf? Check. Bright yellow goggles? Check and check.
As if Midnight wasn't bad enough, things just got immeasurably worse. Midnight and—
"—And call me Eraserhead," the man drawled his gaze pinned on Izuku, "We're on duty now. This man is not like the others."
How had a UA teacher managed to get one of the most enigmatic heroes to work alongside her? Or maybe Eraserhead worked at UA? The more he thought about it the more he realised that it made the most sense.
These people could be his future teachers. They might even have seen his name in the applicant's list or something. This was very bad.
If they figured out who he was...
Izuku began to knead chakra desperately. This would probably be the longest Body Flicker he had done without handseals. If Eraserhead activated his Quirk then Izuku was in deep trouble.
That's what you got when you dealt with deactivation Quirks.
"Now," Eraserhead said as he adjusted his grip on his battle scarf, "How hard are you going to make this, vigilante?"
Izuku didn't bother to answer as he disappeared in a Body Flicker. He could hear Midnight's squawk of surprise as he came to a stop three hundred metres away.
The good news was that he'd probably only be pursued by Eraserhead because they would not leave criminals unattended and Midnight's Quirk was perfect to keep them subdued.
The bad news was because they would not leave criminals alone and Midnight's Quirk was perfect to keep them subdued, he'd probably be pursued by Eraserhead.
From the little he'd seen of the man, Eraserhead could and probably would not relent until he got Izuku. His combat prowess was astonishing for someone with a supplementary Quirk. Izuku could not beat him as he was.
He had to go.
Izuku tried to run away, but his stomach groaned in protest. He had to swallow down the bile in his mouth. His body also tingled from the long-range Body Flicker. Without a handseal, the Body Flicker had been a lot more uncontrolled and the backlash was far more apparent.
Izuku took off running through the side roads and alleyways making sure to stick to the darker roads. If Eraserhead saw him then he'd be able to catch Izuku. He had no idea of how the deactivation Quirk even worked, let alone how to counter it.
All he knew was that he had to run.
He had been doing just that for a few minutes when he finally relaxed. Perhaps, Eraserhead had chosen not to pursue him and was with Midnight rounding up all the—
As he turned into an alley, a white strap dropped into Izuku's vision. He used Body Flicker again to escape and he turned back to see Eraserhead standing on a windowsill. He stumbled a bit as a strong bout of sickness came over him.
He'd been confronted by Kamui and now it was Eraserhead.
"Why always me?" Izuku muttered too low for Eraserhead to hear.
"Interesting," Eraserhead said and yet his tone was entirely dispassionate, "You have breathtaking speed, but it takes a lot out of you. Why else would you choose to run through these side streets and alleys?"
"You also stumbled just now," Eraserhead said as he dropped to the ground, "It makes you sick, doesn't it? That much energy has to go somewhere. If you rush it then it blows back on you."
Admittedly, Izuku trawled the internet to see what people were saying about him. There were some claims that were somewhat close to the truth and others extremely off the mark.
Eraserhead had gotten one of his best tricks after seeing it for the first time.
Izuku raised his hands to prepare another Body Flicker, but he had to scramble out of the way of the battle scarf. He just about managed to do that when it doubled back and caught him by the wrist.
He used his chakra to stick to the floor and squatted down to disguise it. Eraserhead seemed to realise was futile to try and reel him in and so he charged.
Izuku panicked as he saw Eraserhead's hair spike up. A brilliant red gleam emanated from behind the man's goggles. That had to be his Deactivation Quirk.
Izuku spied a pipe on the ground and he almost cried in relief when he spotted it. He picked it up just in time to block a kick from Eraserhead. He used his other hand to reel the Pro in. Izuku tried a horizontal strike to the side holding the scarf, but it got deflected by the man's palm.
Izuku jumped off the ground with a rising knee, but it was blocked before Eraserhead kicked him in the face. He felt the force of it through his mask. Izuku rotated with the blow and he connected with a glancing strike to Eraserhead's ribs.
This seemed to annoy the hero. No sooner than a second after the pipe had made contact, a still airborne Izuku was kneed in the face. Eraserhead then spun before using his scarf to thrown Izuku towards a wall.
He slammed into it with a loud thump his pipe flying free from his hand. Izuku was thankful for the Konoha mask he had on. He would have been in a lot worse shape if he didn't have it on.
As he laid on the floor, Izuku had to squash the blooming sense of fear he was feeling. It wasn't over until it was over.
"7 carjackings, 6 burglaries, 11 robberies and 2 serious assaults all stopped within 3 months of each other."
Izuku turned to Eraserhead to see his hair had dropped down and the man had a tight grip on the scarf tied to Izuku's wrist. Izuku tried to tug himself free from the scarf but it wasn't working. It so tight it was practically imprinting on his bones.
"It's pretty good for someone who's not professionally trained or at least not fully," Eraserhead and he tugged on the rope making Izuku fall onto his face, "Now, let's see who this vigilante really is."
Izuku tugged on the scarf again to no only he had a knife to—
Wait...of course!
A burst of wind erupted from his hand in a flare of blue and white chakra. In an instant, Eraserhead reactivated his Quirk and Izuku was resigned to his fate until he realised that the wind chakra was still pouring from his hand.
It was rough and unrefined as evidence by the jagged cuts forming on Eraserhead's battlescarf. The important takeaway was that he had managed to use his chakra!
Eraser's Quirk didn't work on him!
Belatedly, he realised his Transformation was still active. Even someone as nonchalant as Eraserhead would have reacted if Kage suddenly shrank in size by half a foot.
Man, Izuku wouldn't forgive himself for being so ignorant.
Izuku almost sighed in relief as the battle scarf was cut in half around his wrist. He heard Eraserhead mutter something under his breath as for the first time that night, Eraserhead displayed an emotion other than apathy as he spoke.
"That's clearly an Emitter Quirk," he said with surprise and a tinge of confusion, "It has to be able to cut through my scarf that quickly and you already showed me your super speed."
Izuku allowed the sleeves of his cloak to overlap shielding his hands from view. He made a handseal underneath the sleeves as Eraserhead continued to speak.
"I've read the reports on you, Kage. Some reliable and others less so, but you have still done a lot of good these past few months."
He needed to build chakra for a bit longer to make this in one shot. He'd probably feel it tomorrow in the morning too
"However, from what I've seen and read, you should not exist," In the distance, Izuku could hear the whirring of police sirens, "It's impossible for someone to have more than two Quirks and if even a tenth of those reports are to be believed you have a lot more than just two."
Ten seconds.
"What are you?"
Five seconds.
"I'm a hero."
Just as he finished building enough chakra, Izuku heard the screech of tyres on asphalt. Eraser must have notified the police of their location at some point during the fight.
It didn't matter, though because he was ready.
"Good luck for the—"
"Academic year" was said to the air as Izuku sped off in a blur. His muscles, joints and bones were saturated with chakra as Izuku sped down empty alleyways and roads. The rain would have kept people indoors and so traffic was not an issue especially at 11 PM on a Tuesday.
Izuku slowed to a stop in an alleyway behind his apartment. He put his mask in his bag before his stomach let out a powerful lurch. There was a nearby dumpster and Izuku threw it open before he painted it with all of the meals he had had today.
A few minutes later, Izuku was getting the occasional dry heave as he trudged up to the top floor. He used his key to open the door and he felt bittersweet at seeing his mom asleep on the couch.
He locked up the house and turned off the TV before covering his mother in a blanket. He threw his bag to the side and without even taking his shoes off, he collapsed onto his bed.
The last thing he saw was the jagged cuts littered across his hand.
What. A. Day.
"Mom!"
Inko twitched awake as she heard Izuku's voice calling her. She realised with some surprise that she was on the couch under a blanket. He must have covered her when he came back last night.
Inko was constantly worried that Izuku was pushing himself too far, but she knew that this what he wanted. If she stopped him, she could probably never forgive herself and she wasn't even sure she could stop Izuku.
All she could do was try to be supportive.
She rose from the couch and went to where she had heard Izuku's voice. It had sounded like her bedroom of all places. She walked in to see Izuku sitting in front of hee vanity desk.
"Hey, mom," Izuku said with a little caution, "You use makeup, right?"
"I do."
Not everyone was born with glycerine sweat, after all.
"Okay, that's great," Izuku said turning around and she gasped as she saw the bruises on his face, "I kinda need your help."
"Izuku! What happened to your face?"
"I-It happened at the dojo. It was Kendou's fault, all of it! She'll tell you that herself, if, uhm, I mean, when you meet her! She's awesome but way too competitive and—"
At her age, shocks like this in the morning had to be terrible for her heart. Inko was tempted to let him go to school like this for scaring her this early in the morning.
"She just rides me really hard in practice! I swear you'll like her though. She's~"
As her son continued to ramble, the one thing she wished she didn't pass on, she noticed his hand was bandaged up as well.
"What happened to your hand?"
"U-Uh...Kendou?"
"Your face looks different."
Izuku froze as he met Kacchan's fierce red gaze. It was the end of the school day and for the most part, it had been alright.
He had gotten a few stares from the other girls and some boys which he could either attribute to the usual nonsense or the fact that he was wearing makeup.
He wasn't sure which one he wanted it to be.
"Don't space out on me, Deku!" Kacchan said as he slammed his hands onto Izuku's desk, "You're up to something. Always at the gym, getting bigger and now you show up with a bandaged hand. What are you—what the hell is this?"
Izuku had been packing his bag and so its contents laid bare to Kacchan's eyes. He had been planning to go to the gym and then to train at the mall so he'd packed his scroll and Kage mask with him.
Both of which, Kacchan was now looking at.
Maybe he did get some damage to the head from last night, after all.
"C-Come on, Kacchan," Izuku pleaded with the other boy, "I need to leave soon or I'll be late."
"A mask?" Kacchan said as he looked at it underneath the afternoon sun, "I've seen this before. This is that vigilante guy's mask, right? Why the hell would a loser like you have something like this?"
Izuku tried to speak, but he was frozen with fear. He could help stop carjackings, face off against a renowned hero in Eraserhead and yet he couldn't help but freeze up against Kacchan.
"This doesn't even look like decent quality," Kacchan said throwing the mask over his head, "What else is in there? A scroll? Let's—"
In a move that surprised the both of them, Izuku snatched the scroll right out of Kacchan's hands. In the past, he moved way too slowly to even dream of pulling that off.
"No."
The word was said softly, but with more fire than Izuku usually displayed. Kacchan's eyes were blown wide open before they narrowed sharply. He turned and walked away, but not before kicking Izuku's mask clear across the room.
"I'll figure out what you're up to, Deku," Kacchan said punctuating his statement with a mini-explosion in his hand, "And trust me, I'll enjoy destroying whatever it is."
They were the last two in the class and as Kacchan slammed the door behind him, Izuku was left alone. He sighed before walking across the room and picking up the mask.
Not even a scratch.
He packed his bags and with a rather heavy mind, he left for Kendou's Gym. Izuku was replaying the incident with Bakugou in his mind and perhaps that was why he didn't see the boy in question track his exit from the school.
"Eat this!"
Izuku planted himself as Kendou's punch closed in on him. He swatted the punch aside with his left stick before jabbing the other one forward. Kendou grabbed onto the stick and tried to pull Izuku in.
He had foreseen this, though and he channelled chakra to his feet to keep him in place. The second Kendou stopped pulling on the stick he jumped forward with a rising knee.
She blocked it, but she grunted from the effort. He lowered his knee and he trapped one of Kendou's arms behind him when she was too slow to react. He delivered a flurry of strikes across her side, arms and legs.
She groaned in pain but fought past it as one of her hands grew in size. Izuku then had his world turn upside down as Kendou somehow reversed their position into a throw. Her activating her Quirk had been a decoy.
Izuku slammed into the ground and all the air promptly left his lungs. The sticks he had been holding were sent sprawling across the floor. Kendou had picked up one of his escrima sticks, however, and she straddled him from the side before pointing the stick at his face.
"Give up."
Izuku tried to swing his foot up to get Kendou off of him. The kick slammed into her face and he tried to pin her down when she enlarged her fist and gave him a palm strike.
His body slammed into the mats harshly and this time she straddled him more securely before raising a fist behind her. It grew in size and Izuku felt nervous as his whole head was cast in shadows by her fist.
"Okay, fine," Izuku said with only some irritation, "I give up."
Kendou did not move as she peered at his face.
It had taken him only a few days of getting slammed and beaten and punched to get over any hang-ups he had about physical contact. It was fine whenever they were in a spar because he was too intent on trying to not get clobbered.
It was less fine when those spars ended.
Kendou's hand shrunk to its normal size and still, she didn't budge. Her gaze was so focused it put Izuku on edge. He tensed up as she rubbed her thumb over his cheek and traced upwards. What in the world?
"Are you wearing makeup?"
Ah, that explained it.
"Y-You couldn't have asked that like a normal person?!" Izuku said and it was only then that a sheepish Kendou moved off of him.
"Sorry about that," Kendou said as she offered him a hand, "It's just been bothering me the whole afternoon."
"It's alright," Izuku said as he accepted the hand and rose to his feet, "Do you wanna go one more time?"
"Look I'd love to, but I'm starving," Kendou said as she wiped the sweat from her face, "We've been at this for hours. Aren't you tired?"
He was definitely feeling the burn, but he could go again. It was probably a fringe benefit of chakra. He'd barely use any at all today. Outside of using it to keep his balance or grip on his weapons.
"I mean we could still spar for another hour?"
"No!" Kendou said as she rose to her feet, "You just want to beat me down when I'm tired so you can boost your wins. Not happening!"
"W-What?" Izuku said and he cursed internally as Kendou cottoned onto his plan, "I'd never do that to you. What kind of a friend do you think I am?"
"You just whipped me with a wooden stick for three hours," Kendou pointed out and he flushed as he saw the red marks across her arms and legs.
"Sorry—"
"It's fine," Kendou said placing her hands on his shoulders, "Fighting you would get boring if you didn't get some hits in. Now, hit the showers. We're getting some food."
Huh, that was different. Izuku and Kendou hardly ever went out together. She usually had private training sessions and he went to the mall to practice using his chakra.
"You don't have a lesson today?" Izuku asked drawing a shake of the head from Kendou.
"No, my dad had to go somewhere, " Kendou said before her gaze sharpened, "Are you just looking for a way out? I know we don't hang out much, but after all this time I thought you wouldn't mind being around me."
"N-No, it's not that!" Izuku blubbered over his words as Kendou seemed to be crushed by his apparent rejection, "I know this good bakery place not from here! We can go there!
"Sounds great," Kendou said as if she hadn't been on the verge of tears a few seconds ago, "Meet out front in ten? Okay, bye."
Kendou left leaving Izuku in the centre of the dojo. The sounds of other fights going on around him barely registered as he realised how hard he had fallen for Kendou's trick.
"What just happened?"
Izuku had showered and gotten dressed in short order. Unfortunately, his mother had neglected to tell him that the makeup would wear off once he took a shower.
The locker rooms were packed so he couldn't even use a Transformation to hide the bruises around his face. So, with a heavy heart, he walked through the gym until he reached the front door.
Kendou was already there looking at something on her phone. The second he walked out, she glanced up at him before doing a double-take.
"What happened to your face?"
"I fell down a flight of stairs?" Izuku said trying to skirt around the issue, "It's all good, though. Doesn't sting at all. Come on, let's hurry. That place gets packed around this time."
It was a terribly awful excuse, but he couldn't really tell her that he'd gotten it fighting against an actual Pro Hero. Improvisation under pressure was not exactly his strong suit. He could tell that excuse didn't fly with Kendou when she scoffed.
"Fine, don't tell me," Kendou said rolling her eyes, "I'll just ask whoever it was in the dojo that cleaned your clock. Was it Iwane? No, he'd brag about it. Or maybe Gin? No, he sucks. Unless...it was Mai, wasn't it?"
"Mai the receptionist?"
"Who else?"
It was a novel experience having someone to actually speak to. He was used to walking the streets of Musutafu being deep in thought. This was different and in a good way.
Kendou was willing to drive the conversation after he managed to segue away from the bruises on his face. It wasn't extremely personal or deep stuff, but just normal stuff like villain incidents, school work and the like.
Once they'd gotten to the bakery, they were able to get their food quickly before settling in a booth. It was then that Kendou decided to broach an...uncomfortable topic.
"Did you hear about what Kage did last night?" Her eyes gleamed with excitement which only served to make Izuku feel a myriad of things.
Kendou, understandably, kept up with news of Kage. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as Izuku's All Might obsession, but since he was Kage it definitely unsettled him. As if she'd just figure it out someday.
"He's that vigilante guy that's been in the news a few times, right?" Izuku said as close to neutral as possible, "What happened? Did he get caught?"
"Kage get caught?" Kendou said her tone incredulous, "You didn't get any brain damage from when Mai beat you up, right?"
This was gonna become a thing, wasn't it?
"You don't think Kage could get?" Izuku decided to not respond to her latter question, "Heroes have been on his trail for months now."
"You mean heroes like Kamui who caught me instead of him?" Kendou said with a dry laugh, "It's not like someone like All Might, Best Jeanist or Endeavour are going after the guy. No amount of public statements or interviews will make Kamui like those guys."
Izuku could understand Kendou being bitter about the mishap with Kamui. She at least had a reason to feel that way. The problem was there had been a crackdown of sorts from the public on heroes.
The dismay with everyday heroes was most prevalent in the news, but approval ratings had cratered across the board for lower-ranked heroes. The average approval rating had been 98% 6 months ago and it was now at 93%.
It was not a large drop, but it was concerning that the largest drops were amongst lower-ranking heroes. The top heroes like Hawks, Ryukyu and Endeavour's ratings went up slightly or in the case of All Might stayed at over 100%.
They had all been involved in various large scale operations which no normal hero could have come out of unscathed. The idea that only large scales operations like that were what it took to improve ratings was difficult to process.
Izuku felt guilty because he was pretty sure Kage had a hand in all of this. The most prominent point he had seen repeated was that if a vigilante could do normal crime-stopping it for free, why couldn't actual heroes?
"Izuku," Kendou said nudging him, "You were completely spaced out. You sure—"
"Mai didn't do anything to me!" Izuku said desperately drawing a smirk from Kendou, "Wait, I mean—"
"Your secret's safe with me," Kendou said as she zipped her lips, "Seriously, though. Kage apparently helped capture members of a large drug ring. He rescued a guy who was willing to spill all the beans for some protection."
"Wait really? That's cool!"
It was also the first he was hearing of it.
"How do they know it was him?" Izuku asked even though he knew the answer.
"That's the exciting part!" Kendou said loudly startling Izuku, "He almost got caught by two UA teachers. Midnight and...some other guy. I can't remember his name."
"And this is good because..."
"Don't play this game, Izuku," Kendou said with a heavy sigh, "The Entrance Exam is in less than four weeks. We can find out more about Kage when we're in UA! You like filling out journals, right? About heroes?"
He'd told her that months ago in passing.
"Yeah, but we still need to focus on the exam itself. Hundreds of people our age—"
"You sound like my dad now," Kendou said as she cut off Izuku's lecture, "We are good enough to get into UA. I know I am and you can hang with me even when I'm using my Quirk. You already registered to use your escrima sticks, right?"
"Yeah—"
"Then that rules out like 80% of who we could face," Kendou said as she went back to eating her food.
Izuku was grateful she looked down because he was sure his face was burning up. Another part of having a training partner was getting used to getting compliments.
He was fine with handing compliments out. It was almost inevitable with how amazing he found any and all Quirks. He was not as comfortable with receiving compliments as his blushing face could attest to.
"I don't even know what your Quirk is, but I know you've got enough about you to get in," Kendou said and he had to rest his hands on his cheeks to hide his embarrassment.
"What is your Quirk?"
Surprisingly, Kendou had never asked him what his Quirk was. It was usually something that someone offered up. It wasn't rude per se to ask, but it was polite to wait to be told.
Kendou had apparently run out of patience.
He couldn't lie to her. She'd helped him a lot and she was nice. A lot nicer than everyone else their age. However, he couldn't just spill the beans. Not even his own mother knew about his chakra.
He finally settled on an answer just as Kendou's gaze shifted from curious to confused.
"I'll tell you when I'm ready."
Kendou stared a hole through Izuku and he began to feel sweat form all over his body. There was no way she knew, right? Kage had a whole foot on him and he hadn't even been caught on video since he had helped Kendou.
Izuku tensed up as Kendou finally spoke.
"Fine, then. Keep your secrets."
That was the last they spoke of it.
"I can't make you tell me," Kendou said and her tone set off warning bells in Izuku's head, "I mean I already told you as much as I could about my Quirk. Plus, I've been giving you free lessons and—"
"Do you want me to get you another slice of cake?" Izuku said the first that came to mind.
"That'd be great! I'll be back. My dad's calling me."
As Kendou answered her phone and left him alone in the booth, Izuku could only ask one question.
"What just happened?"
They had been forced to take the cake to-go. Apparently, Kendou's father had something he wanted to go over with her. They were now walking back to the gym and what had been light and breezy before was now quiet and just a little tense.
Kendou was silent the whole way until they reached her gym. Izuku was about to say his goodbyes and leave when Kendou finally whirled around.
"We can't train together anymore. I know I promised to help you train, but my dad's really nervous about UA and we're going to have an even stricter schedule now. He's upstairs right now. That's why he called me back at the bakery. I wish I could do something to change it, but—"
Kendou trailed off, but the meaning was clear.
This was her dream.
"It's fine, Kendou," Izuku said and he did mean it, "I also have a few things to work on so this is a bit of a relief. I couldn't keep getting home past midnight."
His mother had steadily been getting more and more worried as he kept coming back later and leaving earlier as the days went by. Maybe this would allow him to come home at a more reasonable
"We probably won't be able to meet up until the Entrance Exam," Kendou said before putting her hand out, "Please give me your phone."
He did it without hesitation and after a few taps on the screen, she handed it back. He almost erupted in shock and embarrassment as he saw Kendou's name and number saved as a contact.
He had a girl's number. Even if it was just his sparring partner's number. It was a girl's number.
"Send me a message later tonight so I can save your number," Kendou said as she turned to go, "You better pass the Exam or I'll hunt you down, short stuff! I want at least one friend on the inside!"
Kendou left in a hurry after that as she rushed to get to her training session. Izuku was pretty happy as he walked through the streets towards the mall. He actually had a friend, now.
And all it had taken was escaping a rushing river, finding an abandoned ruin, eating a magical fruit, becoming a vigilante and five months of getting beaten into the ground.
...The first time was meant to be the easiest, right?
Or at least Izuku really hoped so.
OC Corner:
Kagami Nyuusan - A courier of drugs and other illicit goods. His Quirk is similar to the renowned Engine Quirk from the Iida family. However, Kagami's muscles produce lactic acid at a high rate and also retain the lactate for far longer than is normal. This hampers the usefulness of his Quirk.
Hiiro Fukuro - Important member of the Red Jacket. His Quirk allows him to do what an Owl can do.
Author Notes:
That makes it five.
Originally, this chapter was probably going to spill into like the 13K range, but I decided to end it where I did instead.
Izuku had an unfortunate encounter with Aizawa who's just so cool. Izuku is good, but he's not quite able to beat Aizawa.
If you weren't keeping track, UA's entrance exam is now only four weeks away. So, don't worry. It's coming.
Thanks to all the response from the previous chapter. I really love hearing from you guys. It's always great to hear that you guys are enjoying this.
Stay safe everyone and I hope you enjoyed this chapter and stick around for the next one.