A/N thanks for your reviews and support.

xXxOtAkU-444xXx: thanks for your review, my friend.

"Speaking"

'Signing'

...

The meeting spot was empty from what he could tell. No one was watching the place and given the area, no one was on the streets. The only people he had seen in the last hour were Tsuragamae, Tsukauchi, and Eraserhead. He waited for nearly half an hour after the time he was supposed to meet them. Being sure they weren't laying a trap for him was key.

He slipped down the fire escape and into the warehouse. The three adults were standing in the middle of the warehouse. Even Eraser was on the floor instead of hiding in the ceiling as he expected.

As he approached they all turned to look at him. A spark of suspicion ran through him but he didn't run. He had promised to give them a chance. No matter what happened he kept his promises.

Tsukauchi greeted him first, "Fear thank you for meeting with us. I know you don't like being seen."

Izuku tilted his head in acknowledgment before glancing at the other two men.

Tsuragamae approached his hand extended as he said, "I am Kenji Tsuragamae, Police Chief of Musutafu. You have given us quite the run around these last few years."

Mistrustfully Izuku shook the hand offered to him. Eraser watched them impassively offering no greetings or saying anything. All he did was raise his chin in Izuku's direction. A movement the vigilante returned before taking half a step away from the Police Chief.

Not taking any offense the man also took a step back. They were spread out now with plenty of space between each other. It was obvious that they were trying to make him feel comfortable and not caged in.

Exaggerating the movements so that they knew what he asking he signed, 'What did you want to meet about? You wouldn't have asked for a meeting without a reason.'

The two members of the police department exchanged a glance. Then it was Tsukauchi who said, "Before you disappeared I had started working out a plan. A way that you could keep helping us but without having to run from us or heroes."

Izuku turned his head to the side. His curiosity made his eyes shine even with the hood and cowl covering most of his face. A plan? That didn't sound like he was going to try and capture Izuku. More like he was going to try and make a deal. As far as he knew though heroes and police didn't make deals with vigilantes. Then again there hadn't been a vigilante active as long as he had been in over a decade.

Tsukauchi pulled a file out of his jacket handing it to Izuku as he explained, "No one outside of your patrol routes knew you existed. There were times when we thought it was a group of coincidences not a single person. Once you made contact however we knew for sure. When you activated your emergency beacon we rushed to help you only to find blood. We searched for you for hours hoping to find you alive."

They did? Why? He wasn't that important. It didn't make sense why they would care so much for a vigilante. Curiosity got the better of him so he opened the file. When he did he blinked in shock. In front of him was an agreement that he would work with the police in an official capacity. He would report directly to Tsukauchi, Eraser, or Tsuragamae. In return he would no longer be chased by heroes or police and would have access to medical attention.

The agreement would make everything he was already doing legal. This was far more than he had been expecting. Why would they give him, a lowly vigilante such a choice?

As if hearing his thoughts Tsuragamae said, "Heroes weren't always legal, Fear. In fact they were less than legal for longer than they have been legal. Old laws are still in effect if one only knows where to look. Such as a vigilante can become legal if they avoid capture for longer than a year. This also depends on how much collateral damage there is. If there were any abuse of force. These would have needed to be reviewed by the Commission. Your dealings have been so under the radar we didn't need permission. With this you no longer need to hide. We can work together better this way. If you agree that is."

Izuku gave it a thorough read before he signed to the men, 'Mask stay on.'

The three exchanged a look before agreeing. With that the paper work was signed. Everything in it had been everything he could have wanted from it. He would still need to be cautious but it was genuine.

...

A few nights after the exam found him patrolling the streets of Musutafu. He still had plenty of energy despite having participated in the exam. Things had been quiet so far for the evening. Criminals weren't out during the night of the UA heroics exams. It had been something he recognized for a while.

Izuku kept to the rooftops watching and listening for trouble. Tsukauchi had gotten him a new comm that was hooked into the police and hero lines. Thus allowed him to listen in and know when there would be trouble.

At one point after midnight he felt his phone buzz. That was probably Katsuki again. Izuku hadn't talked to him since they parted way to go home. For his part Izuku ignored it. Using his phone on patrol was a great way to get killed. He still felt the burning in his throat from his fight with the villain using a five-point disintegration quirk.

Speaking wasn't something he did very often before the attack. After it, he made it even more difficult. Even trying to speak was painful.

Izuku raised a hand to rub at his throat under the cowl. Would it ever heal so that he could speak the way he had done before? Or would he be forever stuck as he was? It hurt too much to speak so he didn't.

There was a shift in the air. Izuku flung himself to the side barely missing the cloth that tried to make a grab for him. Turning he faced the attacked as he drew his knife. As he did so he felt his quirk disappear and met the red eyes of the Pro Hero Eraserhead.

Hero and vigilante watched each other wariness clear in their postures. Slowly Eraserhead released his hold on his capture weapon. Then held up his hands as if to show he meant no harm. Izuku raised an eyebrow but didn't make any move to run. Was the hero testing his reflexes? An interesting way to test them.

Eraserhead said with a look to Izuku's knife, "Fear, I never got the chance to thank you for saving me. Thank you."

Izuku raised his chin before signing, 'You're welcome, Eraserhead. What can I do for you? It's not often I see a hero out on my patrol route?'

Eraserhead smirked, "Most heroes don't believe you exist. In their eyes, you're a ghost, a forgotten watcher in the night. So why do you do this? Why be a vigilante?"

Why? Why be a vigilante? That was the question, wasn't it?

Izuku signed easily, 'The world needs a vigilante. So many heroes refuse to take patrols in the more dangerous areas. So people like me will look after those who can't look after themselves.'

Eraser said leaning back on his heels, "You could become a hero. Why not try for one of the hero schools?"

Izuku signed, 'With being unable to speak? I doubt they would take someone like me anyway. Preconceived notions mke prejudice even in the hero schools.'

Eraserhead frowned, "Heroes are people too. We all have our issues being mute will not stop you from applying to the schools."

Izuku gave a small smile before he shook his head, 'No one would want someone like me in their school, Eraser. Nobody cares about the weak. And a hero proved to me that. He left me on a rooftop after crushing my dreams to dust. Just simply left me there, me, a child, on a rooftop alone. So I'll continue as I am now ensuring that there is a protector out at night.'

With that Izuku had enough of the hero and jumped off of the roof. Behind him, he heard Eraser swear violently. It was time to change up how he went about his patrols.

The quietness of the night continued and he was able to avoid Eraser. Rather than going to nearly four in the morning as he usually did he only did another hour. Then he returned to the apartment. As he slipped into his room from the window he pulled his phone out. As he expected there was a message from Katsuki.

Angry Pomeranian: Hey old hag kicked me out for the night. Can I come over?

Greenbean: Of course. Window is open.

Now he felt bad for ignoring the message when it came in. He should have guessed that Katsuki was coming over. When one of them was kicked out the other always offered their place. At least if they weren't also kicked out of the house.

A few moments later ash-blond hair poked up over the window sill. Then came hands pulling the boy to sit on the sill. Red eyes met green.

Katsuki greeted as he threw his bag onto the floor, "Thanks. Did you just back from your patrol?"

'Yeah,' he signed, 'I ran into Eraserhead while on patrol. I thought it would be best to call it a night early.'

Katsuki frowned, "Did he do anything to you? You don't appear to be injured but you are good at hiding them."

Izuku signed as he shook his head, 'No we just talked. He asked me why I wasn't a legal hero. Or at the very least in a Hero School.'

Katsuki grinned as he said, "If only he knew the truth. You're not old enough to get a hero license yet."

'Neither are you,' shot back Izuku.

The two boys grinned at that. Then they settled down in the room. Izuku gave his bed over to Katsuki as he had some analysis he wanted to get done. It wouldn't be until four in the morning that he sent the analysis off to Tsukauchi and call it a night.

When morning came Katsuki and Izuku snuck out to avoid his mother. They went down to the local park as they wouldn't have to go to school again until tomorrow. So they would use the time to train against each other. Training throughout the day was as challenging as it always was. Katsuki had given him several new bruises and Izuku returned it in kind.

He didn't have any intentions of patrolling that night. Until he received a message from one of his informants. It made his blood run cold when he read it. Stain was in Musutafu and he was hunting Fear.

A part of Izuku considered not going out until he was gone. Doing so had its own dangers. The whole reason that Izuku became a vigilante was so that he could protect everyone. This included the heroes of his city even if he didn't like them.

Grabbing his extra padding to put between his t-shirt and jacket. Only to pause as he was checking it. Eraser and Tsukauchi were in danger. Out of everyone he interacted with those two received the most respect from him. There was no way he could just keep going without warning them.

Izuku pulled his phone from his pocket and shot off a message.

Fear: Detective there is information I need to give you.

Tsukauchi: Fear? We just spoke a few days ago. What's happened?

Fear: It's important. Heroes are in danger and I trust my source with my life.

Tsukauchi: Same place as the other night?

Fear: Yes.

Tsukauchi: I'll be there.