Nighttime in the city can be many things, depending on where you are. It can be a dangerous trek into the unknown, echoing noises and lingering presences threatening to come too close if you don't move fast enough, get home in time; It can be an enchanting mirage of silence and twinkling lights, fresh air and calm, stars and time. But it can also be a time of opportunity, where predators move freely amongst the shadows and bleed into the darkness like water and smoke.

These creatures relish in the hunt, savor the fear that emanates from their victims once they get cornered. They follow step by step, take their time, strike when it's right. And here, in this narrow alleyway not five blocks away from the city center, two animals of prey are ready to take their shot.

They wait, muscles tensing, and listen for the growing sound of footsteps heading their way. How long have they waited in the dark for their mark? Minutes? Hours? Days? It might as well be an entire lifetime for all they care. But patience rewards those willing to wait.

The heavy fall of footsteps draws in closer and both figures ready themselves to pounce. They wait for the perfect moment, make sure that their prey is in the perfect place, and then…

The cold feeling of steel snuggly pressed against their necks makes them both freeze in place, a sinister shushing noise at their ears. Their victim walks past their small hiding place, blissfully unaware of how close they'd come to their own demise, and the lucky person disappears down the alley and into another main street, none the wiser.

And just like that, the hunter becomes the hunted.

"What have we here?" A voice questions cheerfully, the smile audible in the tone. The voice is low and slow, sounding like the slightly drunken slur of someone that's having a great time.

"Targets," Another voice, more serious, responds.

"My favorite~" A female voice joins in. The knife on one of the petty villain's neck moves slightly and the man trembles.

"It's almost five," The second voice says and the girl actually whines in a childish manner.

"You're so uptight," the first voice drawls out, boredom at the tip of his tongue.

"We have to go. Stain is expecting us." The second voice finally says, and that seems to settle whatever little argument was happening. The thief at the front listens as his partner behind him starts gurgling on his own blood, the body hitting the ground soon after even if the noises of agony continue.

The thug still alive finds his voice in a moment of desperation.

"You're with the Hero Killer?" He comments fearfully, confusion and fear mixing in his heart, "W-we're not heroes. You don't have to do this."

There's a pause that seems to last a lifetime. And then, right as the blade slid across his throat,

"You're all the same to us."

The crescent moon was just starting to fade in the sky, the blue and pink tones of the morning painting the heavens softly when Izuku heard someone climbing the fire escape outside their hideout. No one knew they were there, it was a quiet neighborhood, and the ladder only started about ten feet off the ground, making it almost impossible for a random person to be climbing up, but he still reached for his knife at the sound of other people.

He only relaxed his shoulders when strands of pink hair, followed by a familiar green face, peeked in through the window.

"Morning," Izuku greeted warmly, watching as Spinner, Toga, and Dabi made their way into the small abandoned space.

"We're home." Toga replied happily, draping herself over Izuku's back like a cape and wrapping her arms around his neck. Izuku just patted her arm lightly in response, the unmistakable hint of a blush crawling up his neck.

"Where's Stain?" Spinner asked, looking around the place as if their elder could be hiding somewhere in the tiny empty room.

"Out," Izuku explained easily and Spinner nodded. They all knew by now that Stain just went out on his own sometimes and it usually took him a few hours to get back. Though, tonight the man had seemed more serious than usual.

Dabi smiled at the news, already eager to use his time to take one of his usual naps. Shoto had been sleeping ever since Stain had gone out and his older brother wasted no time in dragging his backpack over and laying down beside the other boy. Shoto was curled up into a tight ball, snoring quietly.

"You weirdos close enough?" Dabi asked teasingly, giving Spinner a particularly mocking look before he placed his arm over his eyes. He was out like a light even before Spinner's awkwardness had faded.

It was a kind of unspoken truth that no one could deny, that being the fact that they would all wake up much closer to one of the Todoroki siblings than when they went to sleep the night prior (with the exception of Stain, of course). With no blankets or proper beds, and with no way of lighting fires in the city, they were all drawn to the two people with high enough body temperatures to pass off as heaters. Shoto either didn't care or didn't notice, considering how deeply he and his brother slept, but Dabi had been ruthless about it ever since Spinner had woken up pretty much on his chest one morning.

Izuku didn't even want to think about how they would all wake up in the winter months.

"When did you guys get back?" Spinner asked Izuku quietly, the smallest hint of embarrassment still in his eyes.

"About an hour ago."

"Did you guys run into any trouble?"

"No. Did you guys find anything interesting?" Izuku kept the fact that Stain had barely spoken a word all night and had left Shoto and him as soon as they were back to himself.

"Some useless thieves," Toga responded casually, pulling her weight off of Izuku to reach for a half-empty box of cereal that's on the ground. Izuku took a mental note of their lack of food, biting his lip as he thought. Ever since the group grew they'd had to get more food for everyone and supplies lasted much less than before.

Water in the very least wasn't a problem, as Shoto alone could produce ice, melt it, and then boil the water for safe consumption. That was a huge plus, all things considered, though only Izuku and Stain seemed to truly know how big a plus. The teen could still remember having to drink cloudy water from puddles on the side of the road whenever rain was rare.

"Did you eat?" Toga asked Izuku, shaking the box of cereal in front of his face. He hadn't but he still nodded at her. He could go a while longer without food. Izuku sighed quietly as Toga leaned her head on his shoulder, the sound of her munching on stale, generic brand cereal loud in his ear. He noticed how Toga did not offer Spinner any food and he sighed again. His plan to have them get along better by patrolling together seemed to be failing.

Spinner simply undid his headband, let his hair fall down, and stretched widely, stubbornly not asking for any food himself and not taking any, since all of it was stacked behind Toga and next to Dabi. Izuku wanted to hit his head against the wall. This was nothing new, not really, but it was still frustrating.

When they had rescued Stain they had all seemed to fit together like messed up puzzle pieces. Perhaps it had been the terrible danger they had been in, or the adrenaline high of rescuing their idol, but as the weeks passed by Izuku noticed how different they all were.

Spinner was shy and inexperienced when it came to other people, though he was the most visibly excited to see Stain every day; Shoto was quiet and serious and most of the time Izuku wasn't sure of what the other boy was thinking; Dabi was an absolute cynic who somehow seemed to both not have a care in the world and hate everything around him; and Toga was childish, clingy, sharp as a blade and terribly murderous when it came to targets.

And it wasn't like he couldn't feel their previous connection, he thought as he reached for a granola bar and tossed it at Spinner, who barely caught it. The mutant smiled cheerfully at him and Izuku returned the smile, patting Toga's head when she happily rested it on his leg. The soft snoring coming from both Dabi and Shoto made the small, decrepit space feel almost homely.

Yes, their connection was definitely still there. He still trusted these people with his life and he still enjoyed every day he spent by their sides. But they all clashed more now and Izuku wasn't sure if that was normal or not. He hadn't exactly had the most healthy or common friendships in his life, after all.

But his relationship with Stain had also had an odd beginning and now they were like family, so he didn't want to give up just yet.

It's only been like six weeks, give them time, Izuku told himself calmly. It wasn't like they were killing each other after all. Patrols were going smooth, they were one step ahead of the police most of the time, wounds from their last few fights were all mostly healed. Things were good.

The thought of Stain leaving an hour ago with a look of hatred in his eyes flashed in his mind, but he shook his head forcefully. That was nothing. Stain would let him know if anything was wrong, right?

Yeah. Things were alright.

Stain, silent as a shadow, arrived three hours later and immediately Izuku saw him tense slightly. The teen knew he was still getting used to coming back to more than one person, but at least they were being a lot more active than on other times.

Toga was giving her blood-sucking gear a well-deserved maintenance cleaning, Izuku was taking note of all the supplies they still had, Spinner was carefully sharpening everyone's weapons, and Dabi and Shoto were using their quirks to try and melt a piece of pipe they'd found as a part of the training Stain had not-so-subtly told them all to do.

More than once Stain had arrived to a pile of teens all sleeping on top of one another and he'd given Izuku crap about getting lazy. And Izuku, being Izuku, made sure to push everyone a little further than necessary when it came to chores. Of course, Stain didn't give anyone an encouraging smile for their work, but his resigned silence was the most comforting thing they could get.

"Welcome back," Spinner said respectfully, as he always did when the Hero Killer either left or came back.

"How was the patrol?" Izuku asked him warmly, expecting that Stain would slightly relax as he usually did when addressed by him. But his shoulders stayed tight and he gave Izuku a heavy look that the teen immediately didn't like.

"What happened?"

Heads turned at those words and Izuku cursed himself silently. He still wasn't used to others listening to what usually would be kept between just the two of them. It was like having an audience now. But Stain just turned his head, looked at all the medical supplies and food on the ground, and gave Izuku an odd look.

"We're moving. Pack up." Stain ordered sternly, already heading for his own bag as if he was leaving in that instant with or without them.

"Right now?" Izuku wondered, nodding when Shoto mentioned that it was the early morning and they might be spotted.

"Right now." Stain's tone left no room for arguing and Izuku felt surprised. And then, after giving them all one more look, Stain added, "And change your clothes."

Then the man jumped out the window as if they weren't currently staying on a fifth floor, a clear sign that he would be waiting for them since he had nothing else to say. Izuku stared at the place where his mentor had been standing mere moments ago, feeling like he'd just had a bucket of ice water dumped over his head.

"I wasn't done with this…" Toga grumbled, carefully reassembling the tube and needle that she had been dutifully cleaning. Three of her blood canisters were already empty.

"Midoriya?" Spinner placed his hand on Izuku's shoulder, offering him his sword with a worried expression. "Is everything alright?"

Izuku, acting faster than he thought possible, adopted a calm expression, and nodded with a small smile.

"Yeah. I'm sure it's just the police or something."

Spinner nodded, a trusting look in his eyes as he walked away. Shoto was packing food and Toga was already heading to the only place in the room where she could change comfortably and Izuku swallowed as he watched them move. They felt like ghosts to him at the moment, not fully there.

If something was wrong then Stain would tell them. Tell him. Right?

Izuku wracked his brain as he changed, unable to get the anxiety out of his head and almost tripping over his pants. What possibilities could there be?

The police and heroes were still looking for them under every rock in Japan, and it didn't look like they would stop anytime soon. Stain's escape had caused quite the uproar, after all. But police officers were usually out of the target list. Not that they could really catch up to Stain, now could they? And heroes were disposable, as Dabi would say.

So his little excuse to Spinner was unlikely to be the issue.

But what if more heroes had joined the effort to capture them? A large group of pros could definitely prove difficult to deal with, especially if they shielded themselves amongst police officers. Izuku scoffed quietly at the very idea. Heroes were in no position to engage themselves in a full out war against the Hero Killer at the moment, not if the papers reflected even a fraction of the public's opinions. They were all too busy trying to reconstruct their image for the public after the attack in Hotaru park and the villain hospital, not to mention the mysterious disappearance of multiple heroes during the same incident.

What about the League? Shigaraki probably wanted all six of them skinned and hanging from some public bridge. They'd tracked them once and had kept tabs on Stain once he got arrested, so the idea of being found by the remains of the criminal organization was more than plausible. But Stain wasn't the type to avoid confrontation with Shigaraki, not now that they were all healed up.

Maybe he wanted to avoid more public destruction and civilian injury? That could be it.

Izuku pulled a gray hoodie over his head with more strength than necessary. He didn't like it, but one thing was clear to him: whatever was going on, Stain still didn't trust their new comrades enough to let them in on the big secret.

Only six weeks, Izuku reminded himself with a deep breath, throwing his backpack over his shoulders and stepping out the window after Dabi.

Fine. Then he'd just have to find a moment to get Stain alone and then they could talk like normal adults.

Yeah. Definitely. He could do this. Izuku dropped the ten feet from the third floor onto the alley below, happy that after so long he could finally move the way he used to. Sure, his burn scars pulled at his side uncomfortably, his skin not as flexible as it once was, but hey, if Dabi could manage then so could he.

He landed next to Shoto, Spinner landing on his left seconds later.

Stain gave them all a once over before addressing them.

"We're heading south, for the highway," Then he narrowed his eyes at no one in particular, "I want us to be there by sundown."

Izuku didn't have a map, but he knew their destination was a good 40 miles away from where they had been staying. It was a long walk, considering you couldn't exactly walk in a perfectly straight line in the city. They had to cross streets, avoid crowds, and stay alert.

"What's the hurry?" Dabi asked, clearly realizing the same thing as Izuku.

Stain looked at the oldest member of his party with something akin to distrust, his posture betraying just how stressed he truly was. He offered no explanation and simply turned and started walking. Spinner began walking dutifully, but the rest of them hesitated.

"What's his problem now?" Dabi asked Izuku, not even bothering to lower his tone of voice. Izuku swallowed, shaking his head and motioning for the others to start walking as well. He didn't like any of this. The anxiety put him on edge and he became overtly aware of all the things going on around them as they walked.

The sounds of voices and cars, the slight trembling of the earth whenever they came too close to a street where trucks were driving by, the heat of the sun above them, and the endless turns they took to avoid main streets started making him dizzy. They passed a brick wall covered in graffiti, the words 'Hero Killer' written in bold red and black. Izuku half thought he was hallucinating due to stress, but no, it was very real. As real as the ones that had started popping up in other alleyways in the past six weeks. Stain had pointedly ignored every single one of them, but they all knew what they meant: The Hero Killer was becoming popular.

He felt like the morning of Stain's rescue; anxious and jumbled and full of ideas and worries that he couldn't deal with properly. He missed his notepad dearly.

The city was already alive by the time they got well on their way, and even their usual detours proved to be unable to avoid every single person in their vicinity. Homeless people and people taking out trash came close to spotting them more than once. Why did they have to go out in the middle of the day?

"You're upset." Toga whispered right next to Izuku's ear, making him jump out of his skin. She was silently walking behind him, her yellow eyes narrowed in an odd, serious expression. Her voice sounded much like the time they had taken Shoto from his house, or when they'd helped the wounded nurse. It was that smooth, wise voice that could be confused with mockery by how young she looked.

"Is it that obvious?" Izuku asked.

"Very." Toga commented, her fangs hidden without her usual wide smile. "It's not hard to tell when you're stuck in your own mind. Especially when it's about Stain."

Izuku blinked, looking at the ground and then at Stain and then the ground again. He was reminded of the voices that sometimes plagued him, but as of right now his mind was silent.

"You must be so anxious, not having him tell you anything because of us being here. You feel responsible for us, like you have to fix every problem between him and the rest." The girl continued, walking by his side, and Izuku stared at her in a mix of awe and embarrassment. Toga had a sharp mind and a keen eye, and she was much smarter than some might first give her credit for. Izuku felt her hand slipping into his and he knew that she could read him like a book at that very moment.

"I just…" Izuku tried, unable to find the right words. "It worries me that he won't trust me right now."

"He does. And so do we." Toga gave Izuku's hand a squeeze, one that Izuku managed to return softly. Then she let go of him and started heading to the right, towards Spinner. "I'll keep the others busy."

She immediately started talking to the mutant, who almost tripped at the sudden interaction, and she slowed down her pace so that Spinner would match her. She winked at Izuku and the teen almost tripped himself, amazed and thankful at the sudden space that had been opened behind Stain, who was at the head of the group.

He took a deep breath and walked faster, catching up to his mentor and walking side by side with him. For a second he was caught up in a moment of nostalgia; he felt as if it was just the two of them with only the thrill of the kill ahead of them. He felt much younger all of a sudden, but the moment went as fast as it came.

"Stain?" Izuku tried but there was no answer. "Stain, what's going on?"

Stain glanced sideways at his student. Izuku couldn't tell, but Stain had to fight back the smallest smirk; long gone what the indecisive kid who would go quiet for hours only for fear of speaking out of turn. Red eyes looked back discreetly to gauge how far the rest of their group was and then a frown appeared on Stain's face.

"Did you notice anything on our patrol last night?" Izuku mimicked the expression Stain had, memories already flashing through his head in search of any abnormality. He examined every image and sound he remembered carefully for a good moment but found nothing in particular.

"What kind of something?" Izuku whispered, pressing against his mentor's side.

"Anything suspicious. Someone unaccounted for."

"What do you mean?"

Stain inhaled, his eyes looking around them as if searching for some unseen thing. Paranoia started to wrap itself around Izuku's heart as he became hyper-aware of every shadow around them once more.

"Someone followed us for a while last night." Stain's voice was low, almost like a warning growl, and Izuku tensed.

"Wha-"

"They've been tracking us for at least three nights already."

Izuku swallowed, almost choking on his own spit. He glanced back at his friends, the space between them suddenly feeling like a chasm. Toga and Dabi were arguing about some probably pointless thing while Spinner and Shoto stared at them like confused children. He shifted his eyes towards the sides of the alley but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"The League?" Izuku whispered.

"They would have attacked by now."

"Why didn't you tell us?" It was hard to hide the hurt in his voice and Stain took note of it.

"I wanted to make sure on my own first. Besides, they seem to believe I haven't noticed them up until maybe today." Stain explained, no apologies on his side of the matter. "If they knew we noticed, they might call for backup. But I think they're waiting for something else."

"Like what?"

"We're not waiting to find out."

"You think we can outrun them?"

Stain smirked, the clear glow of bloodlust emanating from him.

"Oh, I'm counting on them to catch up once we're out in the open road."

Izuku swallowed. He looked at the ground and fiddled with the straps of his backpack, something he used to do when he was in middle school whenever he walked past Bakugo or any of his friends in the hallways. Once more, he felt much younger for a moment.

Stain noticed the change in demeanor and sighed silently.

Izuku glanced at him briefly and then blushed, though if it was out of embarrassment or frustration he couldn't quite tell.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

The teen was met with silence for a good while and Izuku could feel the blush spreading over his face. The last six weeks had been rough on everyone, sure. Adapting to new people in such big numbers is difficult for anyone, especially when you go from meeting to living together in just a few days. And yes, they were all difficult, and Stain and he still argued about the decision to bring the others along but…

Had that really broken their trust?

Izuku's eyes began to sting painfully and he had to blink rapidly to push back his emotions. Stain muttered something that sounded like 'Jesus Christ' and sighed, glancing behind them to make sure that the others weren't in hearing range.

"You can't keep things from them, kid. And them knowing we were being followed might have made them act irrationally. They might have tried to take this person out themselves a get you captured."

"You still don't trust them."

"Of course not. And I barely trust them with you."

"I wouldn't-"

"You would go with them and you know it if only to keep them from messing up too bad."

Izuku bit his lip, his emotions tipping over to the frustrating side.

"You don't trust me to not tell them?"

"You are the worst liar on the face of the planet. A child could figure out how you're feeling."

"I…. what? That's not true."

Stain gave Izuku the flattest look he'd given him in weeks, his right brow lifted in doubt behind his mask. Izuku's face was getting redder by the second.

"I'm not a bad liar!"

"Yes, you are."

"I am perfectly capable of keeping a secr-"

"Izuku."

"Chizome."

Izuku raised his chin defiantly, a glaring squint adorning his face. He didn't even bother looking forward as he walked, too childishly angry to care if he tripped or not. Stain held his gaze for all of five seconds before looking towards the heavens. He did that sometimes when he didn't know how to deal with Izuku. Then his shoulders started shaking and Izuku panicked.

Oh God, Stain was furious. He'd done it this time. He was acting like a child and he'd even called Stain by his first name (not even his last name) when the others were still around. His face was a worrying shade of red now, fumbled apologies trying to tumble out of his mouth.

Stain snorted. Izuku blinked.

"...Are you laughing at me?" Izuku squeaked out, sounding almost like a dog toy.

The man coughed twice, his frame going back to its usual still state. The shaking might as well have been a hallucination. There wasn't even a trace of a smile on his face when he turned to face Izuku, but the air around them felt different from before. Izuku half wished for the ground to swallow him whole.

Could this morning get any more awkward?

"I told you I wouldn't trust them just because you did, kid." Stain explained seriously, his eyes patient despite everything.

The fact that Izuku's whole body was completely taught and his face still red and frowning suddenly dawned on the teen and he let out a long sigh. He allowed his shoulder to fall and his neck to relax, hours of tension finally finding release. For a few minutes, they walked side by side in silence and Izuku stared at the floor.

"I'm acting like an idiot, am I not?" Izuku muttered.

"Pretty much, yes."

Izuku kicked a small stone next to his feet, all of his frustrated energy suddenly gone.

"...I'm sorry."

"You have to trust me, kid." Stain said quietly and Izuku nodded.

He felt so dumb and small. Petty was the word, now that he thought about it. Stain was right: Izuku was terrible at hiding his emotions, and his new teammates could be unpredictable at times. He'd doubted his mentor when there was no need to do so, when he should be the one setting the example for everyone else. If he was nervous and doubtful towards Stain, the others would surely pick up on it. Toga had.

Stain's elbow connected with Izuku's ribs and only then did the teen realize that he'd been muttering his train of thought under his breath. The blush was back on his face in an instant.

"You're a mess, did you know that?" Stain asked him, the corner of his lip raising slightly. That alone was enough to lift Izuku's spirits.

"Yeah, I'm painfully aware. But you're no walk in the park either."

Stain chuckled dryly, and the teen smiled openly. The tension around them faded for good and Izuku felt relief flooding through his veins. Everything was fine.

His relief must have been like opening a window, since not two seconds later Izuku could hear voices becoming louder behind them. He turned to see the flash of a blade and blue flames.

"Uh, Midoriya? A little help back here?" It was Spinner, the poor mutant attempting to hold back Toga without actually touching her while Shoto stood between his brother and the gleefully murderous girl with a dagger in her hand.

"It's not my fault she's crazy," Dabi commented, blue sparks coming off his hand like little fireworks. He didn't look worked up, but you could never really tell with him until he went fully crazy.

"You want me to cut you? If I don't kill you Stain won't get mad. Right, Izuku-kun?" Toga cheerfully bit back, her flushed face the image of happiness.

Izuku immediately walked back to get in between them, Stain not even slowing down to deal with the issue.

Yeah. Everything was fine.

The phone on the desk started ringing. The people in the office all turned their heads, expressions ranging from bored to expectant.

The man sitting behind the expensive, mahogany desk let the phone ring twice before picking up, his business tone laced with the usual politeness that came from dealing with clients and partners; you must always sound friendly if the relationship is to carry on.

"Yes?" He already knew from the ID that showed up on the screen, no need to ask who it was.

"They finally noticed me, boss." The crackling voice sounded over the speaker. Cheap phones truly didn't have much quality to them, do they?

"Wonderful. Where are you?"

"I'll send my location right away. They're heading south, probably out of Kanazawa."

"Right on time." The man smiled widely, teeth showing. One of the people in the office with him, a woman with pale lilac hair, grinned and jotted something down in a small notepad as if struck by inspiration. "Keep an eye on them until they're out of the city. Call back then."

"Roger, sir." After that, the line went silent. The man leaned back in his chair, the phone now resting in the very middle of the desk. He placed his hands together and looked out the window of his office. Below him, an entire town eagerly awaited further instructions.

And just like that, the hunters become the hunted.