For a week and a half, life went normally for Izuku. He went to work on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; and he spent Tuesdays and Thursdays looking for a second job.

Sure, he loved his job at the flower shop, but what he really needed was security. Apparently, there was a girl who came in and worked on the days Izuku didn't. And if Mr. Krelborn suddenly decided he wasn't needed anymore, as many previous potential employers had, Izuku would only be able to pay another month or so of rent.

On friday, he was able to show off his sign language to Koda. Koda asked him how long he had been practicing, to which Izuku responded sheepishly, "only a week. I'm still learning the basics."

Koda's hands signed so excitedly that Izuku almost couldn't make it out: "A week?! That's amazing! It took me months to get that good!"

On Saturday, Izuku freed up his schedule and he and Deku went to see a movie. Per Deku's request, they saw a new hero movie, Nightshade.

Izuku found himself engrossed with the action scenes. Their creative uses of Quirks were especially interesting to him. The dialogue was captivating, and the final twist caught him completely off-guard.

Deku, meanwhile, couldn't stop marveling at the main character's commitment to doing what they felt was right. Even when out of costume, they helped when they were needed. Even through their injuries and hardships, they pushed on.

The movie came up in conversation for several days afterwards. While neither of them considered it one of their favorites (Izuku's being The Chronicles of All Might III, and Deku's being the original pre-quirk era Robin Returns), they both agreed it was a day well spent.

On Sunday, Izuku and Deku visited Inko. She wanted to try a new recipe for dinner, but Deku convinced her that Izuku wanted her Katsudon. He was right, but Izuku didn't want to speak up and trouble his mother. Inko assured him it was no trouble at all.

They talked at length about Izuku's ongoing job hunt, as well as Deku's now nightly patrols. He still hadn't run into any trouble, and they all decided to see that as a good thing.

On Tuesday, Izuku scored two interviews on the same day. Both turned him down, but Deku said it seemed like his luck was starting to turn around. Izuku could only hope he was right.

On Thursday, Izuku started waking up with bruises.

-=0O0=-

For a week and a half, Deku walked Mustafu's streets at night and saw no action. It was a Wednesday night when he got into his first real fight.

It was late; an hour or so after midnight. He was walking along a narrow street that he had been down several times before. The area was a considerable distance from the apartment, and so largely unfamiliar to him.

As he walked along, glancing into the alleyways as he passed, he heard a commotion. There was a crash, like clattering metal; as well as the muffled sound of voices. Picking up his pace, Deku followed his ears to the scene.

Deku came skidding to a halt at the mouth of a particularly wide alley. He counted four people just as two came rushing out from a side door. That made six. Five of them circled one man, who stood in the center and now looked very out of place.

The man's frame was thin and lean. The most striking thing about him was his dark purple hair. His clothes were also a deep purple – almost black, and a thin white scarf coiled around his shoulders. A large black mask cradled tired looking eyes that carefully kept most of those around him in his sight.

He hadn't spotted Deku yet. Nor had the others who were now jeering at the man in the center. Taking advantage of this, Deku ducked behind a dumpster. He should find out what's going on before jumping in, after all.

"Well, well, now, what is it?" said one that had just come through the door. He was the biggest and nastiest of them all.

"Dunno," said another, shorter in stature but no less nasty than the first, "what are yer then?" he asked the man in the middle.

The man stood there for a moment, and it seemed to Deku as if he was weighing his options. He then wordlessly took a small card from his pocket and held it up for them to see.

"A Hero?" said one.

"What's a Hero got to do with our alley anyways?" asked another.

Deku wondered the same thing. Whoever this hero was was certainly unlike the Heroes he was familiar with on the TV. He wasn't giving a speech about justice, nor was he wearing a spangly outfit. He did have a card, which Izuku told him was how you knew for sure if someone was a Hero or not. Deku turned his attention to the rest of them; he still wasn't sure what to think. They certainly looked villainish, but the Hero had yet to attack or say a word.

"Same as the rats that scurry 'round," said the one that hadn't spoken yet. "Thinks it's all their place, I reck'n."

"So that's it then," spoke the biggest again in his deep, bellowing voice, "just a rat 'come scurrying along our doorstep. Poor little fella. He don't realize how big the world is, do he? Don'tcha just feel sorry for 'em?" he asked, and the others started laughing.

"Aw look at 'im! he's a sorry sight, ain't he?"

"Aw look at his eyes! He don't even wanna be here, do he?"

"I reckon there's no point teachin' a rat manners. Let's say he just goes back to the rat's world and we go back to ours," said the biggest one. He waved his massive hand and the two behind the Hero moved to the big ones sides, opening up the alley.

The Hero stood there again for a moment, fiddling with his mask, as if deciding what to do next. Deku decided he was done watching. He stepped out from around the dumpster.

Just then, he heard the big one speak.

"Besides, we couldn't take him on anyways, could we?"

Deku gave pause at that, and confusion seemed to ripple through the other villains. They all turned to look at the biggest.

"Uh, boss–!" the one who spoke suddenly froze. The Hero leaped forwards, kicking the smallest one and sending him flying.

The fight was on.

The smallest one skidded to a halt at Deku's feet. Not hesitating for a moment, Deku used him like a springboard, leaping towards the fight and knocking the little goon unconscious. He launched his fist at the man standing next to the big one. He felt his knuckles collide with his skull through his gloves. The man hadn't expected the blow, and went down from just the one hit.

Deku saw that the Hero was taking care of the other two, so he turned his attention to the big one next to him. Their eyes met.

Deku threw a wild punch to his stomach, which the man tried to catch, but only succeeded in barely avoiding.

The man, anger now set in his face, brought his arms in front of him. Suddenly, from out of the skin of his palms came many large knives. He flung them out, and they stuck into the alley wall. They had just missed Deku, who twisted out of the way.

It is at this point that any normal person would be worried for their lives. Some may have taken the opportunity to flee long ago, while others might turn their entire focus onto the fight. Especially now that the man they are fighting pulls knives from his hands and throws them with enough force to embed them in solid brick. But remember, nobody is infallible. Anybody who was fighting such an assailant might also panic, and make a terrible mistake that could lead them to a swift end. Of course, If one were at all familiar with Deku, one would know that he isn't anybody.

Deku knew very well that anyone who thought only about a fight might also make a fatal mistake and die. And so, Deku did the only thing he thought was logical: He didnt think about the fight.

Instead, he thought about the Hero who had just wordlessly started beating up some guys in an alley. Deku didn't judge him for this. He had just done the same thing, after all. And besides, Heroes only beat up villains. And if a Hero started beating someone up, it was safe to assume that said person was a villain.

Deku ducked under a bladed haymaker and threw one of his own, sending a tooth flying from the villain's mouth.

Deku also thought of the strange way the Hero had started the fight. He had expected a few words, at least. Instead, the Hero just… started attacking. Deku did have to give the Hero credit for waiting for the perfect opportunity. The first hit was thrown immediately after the biggest (whom Deku now assumed was the leader) took the attention off of him. Deku thought that was odd, too. Why had the leader done that?

The villain in question growled and bent low to tackle Deku to the ground. Deku leapt over him, leaving a bruising blow at the base of his back.

Deku also had to commemorate the Hero for staying silent even in the face of the leader's jeers. Deku frowned. At first Deku had wondered if he was ever going to shut up. Now the leader hadn't spoken a word since the fight began. Or rather, he hasn't spoken since making an opening for the Hero. and what was up with that?

Standing face-to-face, Deku went blow-for-blow with the man. For all of the man's attacks, he slipped past. For every opening, Deku struck. When another volley of knives was summoned, Deku lept back.

Deku wondered if the Hero's silence had anything to do with the mask. Did it muffle him too much? Did it stop sound completely? Why would he need that? Now that he thought about it, he did see the Hero fiddle a bit with his mask. That may have been him adjusting some form of contraption. Or maybe he was just nervous?

Deku managed to slide under the villain's legs. Before the villain could turn around, Deku sent a solid kick to his side.

And the Hero had acted quick, too. Was he expecting the leader to cause a distraction? Did he foresee it? Or did he cause it? Now that he thought about it, was he certain the Hero hadn't said anything? Now that he thought about it more, was he sure the leader had been the one to cause confusion? Now that he thought about it–

And suddenly, Deku came to a realization. Had that Hero… stolen the leader's voice?!

In the shock of his discovery, he was almost hit by a knife flung at him. The blade tore through the hoodie and left a shallow cut along his side.

This was enough of a distraction for the villain to land a solid kick to Deku's freshly bleeding side.

The villain (who was very top-heavy and took a moment to find his balance) gained his footing and, knives in hand, charged to tackle Deku. Deku charged in turn and threw his foot into the leader's face.

A dull thud sounded through the alley. The villain finally collapsed.

But Deku had other worries. What if the Hero realized he was a vigilante? What if the Hero stole his voice too? Would he take it to the police? If he did, they could track him down. They would find him and Izuku. And who knows where they would be taken from there!

"Thanks for the help, I guess," a voice cut off his thoughts.

Deku turned to see the Hero had defeated and tied up the rest of the villains.

"Sorry, but I don't recognize you. I'm going to need to see a license."

It took a moment for Deku to understand what he meant. The Hero wanted a license. A Hero's license. Shit.

Deku wracked his mind as he considered his options. He could run, but he wasn't sure how fast this Hero was. Did he dare try bluffing his way out of this? Did he dare speak at all, and risk the Hero stealing his voice? So many things went through his mind, but he knew he had to choose fast.

Deku ran.

So abrupt was his escape that it took the Hero a moment to process what just happened.

Had Deku looked behind him at all, he may have seen the Hero follow him for a few blocks before giving up the chase. But Deku did not look behind him until he had entered the streets more familiar to him, changed his direction multiple times, and ran through a garbage dump; just to make sure he was in the clear.

When he did stop running, he nearly collapsed. His legs were sore. His arms felt numb. His side hurt. He lifted his hoodie to get a better look. A large bruise wrapped around the side of his abdomen. It surrounded the shallow knife wound and was turning a dull pinkish red in color. He touched the area experimentally and– yep. Definitely pain.

He examined the cut. He was lucky the blade had barely grazed him. It was bleeding very little, and would stop soon.

Deku sighed. Maybe he should just call it a night.

Deku did go home after that. He would not find out until much much later that he had unknowingly aided in the bust of an underground sweatshop. The leader, Don Kiegou, was providing his buyers with air-tight glass vials made to contain and store liquids. The purpose of the vials could only be guessed, as nothing else was found on the scene except for a private stash of illegal substances.

The Hero at the scene, whose Hero name was 'Eye-Bags', and whose real name was Hitoshi Shinsou, also made the first ever report of the 'Green-Hooded Vigilante'. There would be more reports to come. Even as Hitoshi filled out his first bout of paperwork, he had a feeling that it wouldn't be the last he saw of the green-hooded stranger.

-=0O0=-

On Thursday morning, Izuku awoke to an aching pain.

He sat up slowly, feeling the pain throb from the movement, and threw both legs off the side of the mattress. He felt around his abdomen and found the source when the pain seared through his core.

"Deku?" he asked to see if his companion was there and awake.

A drowsy hum of acknowledgement was his response.

"Did, uh… did anything happen last night?"

"Oh. uh…" there was an uncharacteristic pause. "Y-yeah." And a stutter. Very unlike Deku. "I got in a fight."

Izuku carefully got out of bed and made his way to the bathroom. He turned on the light and looked in the mirror.

Lifting up his shirt, he hissed from the cool air. He was greeted by a nasty-looking bruise; a dark reddish purple with a sickly green coloration forming around the edge. Through the middle of the bruise was a clean scar. It seemed to be healing.

"I'm scared to ask this, but… what kind of fight?"

"I was… helping a Hero. but I'm not sure how much help I really was, though."

"A Hero?" the words took a moment to sink in. "You ran into a Hero?! Who?"

Deku began explaining the entire story from the beginning, leaving no detail untold. Izuku was particularly interested in the villain's knife-making quirk. When Deku got to the point where the hoodie was torn, he apologized profusely. More than Izuku had ever heard him apologize.

"Deku, relax. I'm more worried about you. Did you get hurt anywhere else?"

"No. Just the cut and the bruise. That's all."

Izuku treated the wound as best he could while Deku continued his story. There wasn't much Izuku could do, save for cleaning the area and taking some painkillers.

As Deku was finishing his story, Izuku pulled out the hoodie. Taking out a small sewing kit, he examined the damage, finding the tear to be an easy fix.

"The hero, did you recognize him?"

"No," said Deku, "I've never seen him before. I mean, maybe if we had, like, a TV, I could have seen him on the news."

Izuku rolled his eyes and continued. "Well, the scarf sounds like Erasurhead, but I've never heard of a Hero who stole voices before."

"Maybe he's a new underground Hero," Deku offered.

"Could be. That would explain the silent demeanor. I don't think underground Heroes are usually very talkative."

"Hm," Deku hummed in thought.

"Are you sure he actually stole the guy's voice?"

"That's just what I saw, man. I don't know how he actually uses it."

"Well, you may be right that he uses it for identification, but I don't see how he could unless he matched his stolen voice to another person's voice. But if he steals voices, then that person would just be mute, right? I mean maybe that could help narrow down a search, like, now they know they're looking for someone who doesn't talk. It would make more sense if the Hero actually copied voices, but the way you describe it doesn't sound that way. And besides, a recording device could do that just fine. I just dont think it's a good quirk for finding people. It sounds like he uses it to create confusion before he acts, which is definitely a smarter way to use it…"

And by this point, Izuku's rambles had devolved into full-blown muttering. A habit he'd kept since childhood, although he had gotten better at catching himself over time.

Deku didn't mind at all, and sat back and listened as Izuku eventually left the topic of the Hero's quirk. Izuku rambled about the fight, and the escape, and eventually about the kick Deku had endured. This part of Izuku's word-vomit sounded a bit like this:

"...but you'd think a jolt of pain like that would have woken me up. I mean, we already know that our sleep cycles can desync, but that should have definitely made me wake up. And I definitely felt it. At least, I felt it after I woke up in the morning. Maybe the pain we feel is linked to whether or not we're conscious? Or maybe it's like our consciousness and our perception of pain is separate altogether. Like one of us could feel pain while the other doesn't. Or maybe–..."

But through his entire tirade, a few of Izuku's words rang in Deku's head. 'One of us could feel pain while the other doesn't.' Deku certainly hadn't thought of that, but what if–

Deku thought back to the first time he woke up while Izuku was still asleep. He thought back to the feeling it brought him – how disconnected he was.

Then he brought his thoughts to the pain at hand. To the swelling ache that hugged his abdomen. To the cut that ran through it. To even the soreness of his legs.

'Its mine,' he thought inwardly to himself. 'The pain is mine. Let me have it.'

And Deku took the pain for himself.

Izuku suddenly gasped, nearly stabbing himself with the needle in his hand. Almost dropping the hoodie, he reached down to the bruise. Izuku felt nothing. He lifted up his shirt again. Deku hissed from the movement. The bruise was still there.

Izuku couldn't believe it.

Deku could hardly believe it.

Izuku's muttering started up again. "Our consciousness and our pain perception can act independently from the both of us! What else can we do that with? I mean, technically our minds already act on their own, and I mean, technically we can each move our body on our own, and—

"Izuku." Deku cut him off. His voice was strained, and his jaw was set. "Lets just count one blessing at a time. Please."

Izuku then remembered that Deku was in great pain, and flushed with embarrassment. "Right, sorry. The painkillers should be kicking in soon," he said, because he wasn't sure what else he could say.

They sat in silence as Izuku finished with the hoodie. He held it up for them both to admire his handiwork. As his arm stretched up, he could hear Deku hold back another hiss.

"I think we should get you something for a bit more protection."

"What, like armor?"

"I was thinking more like padding under your clothes. Like something made for stuntmen in movies, y'know?"

"Just nothing heavy."

Later that day, when Izuku went out shopping, he also bought two giant tubs of mint ice cream.

He couldn't really afford it on his current budget, but that was fine. He could always skip a few meals to make up for it.