Ochako stood atop the highest point of U.A., looking over the city as the dawn started to crest the horizon. In the city, heroes, QSU, and military units were quietly being shipped out. They would all converge at the town nearest the mountain Zeus was holed up in and by afternoon forces from all sides would converge on the mountain and storm the fortress en-masse. If everything went smoothly, then by this time tomorrow it would all be over. Which meant it would almost certainly not go smoothly.
She'd had a troubled night of sleep, between nightmares and stress, she had eventually found herself atop U.A. awaiting the dawn. She took a deep breath of the morning air, then walked off the edge.
She let herself freefall along the school wall for a moment before pushing herself away from the wall and gliding towards the city. Before long, she alighted in front of the apartment complex that everyone was staying at. She walked into the foyer, where she saw everyone seated in armchairs, the arms of the armchairs, or on the floor. Ochako sat on the arm of the armchair that Tsu currently sat cross-legged in.
There were a few mumbled mornings, but for the most part, no one spoke. They just sat in silence while the minutes ticked by. Minutes turned into an hour, which was when Todoroki stirred.
"It's time," he said.
At those words, everyone stood up. They made their way outside just in front of the doors, where everyone stopped. The people attending the raid stood slightly apart from those who weren't. The two groups faced each other, Ochako slightly in front of the others.
"Good luck," she said.
"Same to you," Todoroki replied.
Then Todoroki squared his shoulders and turned and made his way towards their designated spot for pick up and transport. His group followed him, and before long, the small group of four that remained went their separate ways. Jirou and Kaminari went back into the apartment complex, while Ochako followed Tsu to the school.
They didn't say much as they made their way to the school. They simply took comfort in the presence of the other, while the knowledge that this may have been the last time they see everyone weighed upon them.
They had just made it to the front gates when Ochako's phone went off. She checked it and saw that Nezu had sent her a message requesting her presence at one of the U.A. conference rooms.
"I'll see you later, Nezu wants me for something," she said to Tsu.
"I'll be at the pool if you need me, ribbit," Tsu said, making her way to the pool.
Ochako made her way to the conference room, but as she approached the room, she felt a mounting sense of foreboding.
Hawks stood guard just outside of the room, at her approach, he opened the door and gestured her in.
She entered the room and saw she wasn't the only invitee. Apart from Nezu and Hawks, Naomasa, Dr. Okimi, and Sasakura were also present. She paused as she entered, surprise and a sudden suspicion coming over her.
"Please sit Ms. Uraraka, we have a lot to discuss." Said Nezu, gesturing to a chair.
She pulled out the indicated chair and sat down, looking at everyone who also looked back at her.
"What's this all about?" she asked.
"With the raid currently underway, we have decided to reveal to you some important information, rather than let you discover it on your own," Nezu said.
"Firstly though, you must promise to not reveal anything we tell you to anyone else until Nezu says otherwise." Said Naomasa.
Frowning, Ochako nodded, "I promise."
Naomasa nodded in return, then looked to Nezu.
"It has come to my attention that you have started to become close with Izuku Midoriya." He said seriously.
Ochako glanced at Sasakura who kept a stoic expression.
"We've been on A date, and we plan to have another, but I don't see how that's any of your business," she said, pointedly.
"Normally it wouldn't, but in this case, it is very relevant. You see, Izuku Midoriya has been a subject of investigation for the past several months." Nezu said.
"Investigation? What the hell is this about?" she asked, a small sliver of fear manifesting itself within her.
"There is no easy way to say this, but... Izuku Midoriya is also the vigilante known as The Hunter." Said Naomasa.
Three Years Previously...
Izuku walked down the busy street, ignoring the large crowd that formed outside of a nearby hero agency. In the few months, he had been roaming the northern prefectures of Japan, he'd seen this same sight many times. Protests against heroes, against the hero association, against the government, they'd become commonplace in Japan in recent months. Izuku knew a few of them would have been started by League of Villain agents, they were most prominent in the northern areas and so the number of riots and protests was much higher in those areas. Once the League had gotten the ball rolling, people had started doing the heavy lifting themselves. Already, multiple heroes had been ousted from their positions either retiring or being bullied by a now angry public into quitting, and still more had been recalled by the hero association or the government to help fight against the League of Villains which had started to become more open with its rebellion against the government and heroes as a whole.
Izuku glanced at the protesting crowd after hearing the shattering of glass. Someone had thrown something through a window. Before long, everyone had started throwing whatever was at hand. Plastic or glass bottles, bricks, food, anything, and everything. It filled him with anger, both towards the protesters and towards the heroes themselves. The civil unrest had revealed how weak some heroes' sense of duty was, others had had dirty secrets uncovered, and others just how morally bankrupt some were once you stripped away their façade of righteousness. In the past two months, Izuku had been wandering the northern prefectures of Japan, he'd started to become disillusioned by it all.
Police arrived to try and quell what was rapidly turning into a riot, but with little success, and still, no hero arrived to help. Perhaps it was for the best, a hero might well tip everything over the edge. As that thought passed through him, another wave of anger swept through him. The fact that heroes, police, and sometimes the military had to waste their time and energy on quelling these idiotic riots and protests, galled him. With the League becoming an active threat, they didn't have the time for these things. Every hero that was forced into retirement or quit due to the public was one less person able to help during this crisis.
Izuku continued on his way, intent on getting away from the riot before the police started to crack down in earnest. He made his way down the road until he came to a hotel, he paused, he'd been staying in hostels for a while, constantly moving from city to city. Perhaps he would take a break for a day or two and stay here. The city of Aizuwakamatsu had a concrete replica of Tsuruga-jō castle, perhaps he'd do some sightseeing while he was here. It was a relatively small city, surrounded by farmland. It was a far cry from the small metropolis that was Mufustafu. He looked up to the sky, it was still early so he decided to visit the castle now and get a hotel room in the afternoon.
After a while he arrived at the concrete replica, it was an impressive job, to say the least. Even given the time of its creation back in 1965, it had been lovingly made and maintained since then. He made his way across one of the stone bridges that connected the castle to the rest of the city and took a moment to take it in.
Then the castle simply started to break apart. He blinked, the entire castle was breaking down, faster and faster, and it was spreading.
His eyes widened and he started to run back across the bridge. He glanced back and saw that the destruction wasn't limited to just the environment, people were engulfed by the rush of destruction and he saw with horror that they simply disintegrated. The wave was moving faster than he believed possible and he realized he'd never be able to outrun it. As it crept closer and more and more people were engulfed he leaped off the bridge entirely.
He crashed into the water, and he desperately tried to prevent himself from drowning. The small lake was roiling and sloshing everywhere and was inexorably drawing him towards the center of the destruction. He managed to avoid the worst of it and by the time he dragged himself to land, he was coughing like mad.
When he eventually stopped coughing and recovered, he looked around him.
It was as if there had never been a city, to begin with. There was nothing but a crater, with a large body of water in the center. He could see random people also pulling themselves from the water, but it appeared that everyone who didn't manage to get to the water was gone.
The sheer scope of near-instantaneous destruction was too insane to wrap his head around. What could cause such devastation? It wasn't a nuclear weapon, he'd be dead, but what else could do something like that? His thoughts immediately went to science fiction, where things like anti-matter bombs existed. He dismissed the idea immediately as if something like that could exist. Then he was hit by a huge gust of wind emanating from the center of the body of water. He was forced backward and he turned around to see what was causing it.
He saw a lone figure floating just above the center of the water, his wild, unkempt white hair swirled about him. He wore standard business attire but had a ragged black cloak that whipped about him from the wind. Ash and dust swirled through the air, and he saw the man look around at the destruction.
Then he started to laugh, his voice carried to everyone in the crater, Izuku felt fear. The laugh was so inhuman, so insane, the destruction so great, that he had a hard time believing that the person responsible for such destruction could have a human form.
Then the figure spoke, and a raspy, hoarse voice echoed all around.
"THE WAR HAS BEGUN, AND WITH IT THE DEATH OF HEROES AND THEIR SOCIETY!" He screamed out, laughing all the while.
Ochako blinked and looked at the faces of the assembled people. There was no hint of a smile to indicate it was all some kind of joke. She pinched herself under the table, which only proved it wasn't a dream.
"I... What?" she said, not noticing how quiet her voice had gotten.
"I'm afraid it's true. Izuku is The Hunter." said Sasakura.
"But... But... I... that's impossible!" she said, her voice growing in volume as she refused to believe what she had been told.
"The Hunter and Izuku look nothing alike! The Hunter has black hair, no freckles, glowing red eyes, and has a physical enhancing quirk while Izuku was born quirkless!" she said, standing up and slamming a fist into the table in rage.
"Not to mention his penchant for violence and less than stellar opinion of heroes! Izuku and The Hunter are nothing alike!" she said, shaking all over and taking shuddering breaths.
"You're right, on the surface, they are nothing alike. You'd think they were polar opposites after meeting them both." Said Hawks from his position by the door.
"Izuku becoming The Hunter is how he has been coping for several years now." Said Sasakura, sighing, a mournful look on his face.
"Before Izuku leaves to go on his excursions, he dyes his hair black with a water-soluble dye. Given how dark his green hair is, he doesn't need a lot to make it look black. Then he uses make-up to cover up the freckles. The eyes and super-human strength however a bit more complicated." continued Sasakura.
"I am the one who provided Izuku with the contacts that turn his eyes red. They are the original prototype of the night vision contacts Bakugo has been testing. They glow because they are bio-luminescent, and they just so happen to glow red. I have been secretly providing Izuku with outdated or prototype technology as a means of both aiding him and advancing our own research. That being said, some of his technology was homemade. He is more adept at research and development than I believed." Said Nezu.
"The super-human strength is something we have only figured out recently." Said Dr. Okimi, opening a folder and spreading out several technical documents detailing reports about Izuku.
"Firstly, Izuku Midoriya does NOT have a quirk. We've run dozens of tests, and despite appearances, he doesn't have one." Continued Dr. Okimi.
"Wait, what tests? I thought you said he had been destroying evidence regarding him?" interrupted Ochako.
"A partial lie, he did destroy evidence, but there is no conceivable way he could FORCE me to give up something if I was set on it." Dr. Okimi said with a huff.
"Now then, as I was saying. Izuku Midoriya does not have a quirk, but he isn't exactly powerless either. Are you aware of the scientific reason why Midoriya doesn't have a quirk?" she asked.
"I thought it was just something that could happen, like recessive genes or something," Ochako said, trying to recall what she had been taught about genetics.
"That isn't entirely wrong. For starters, it's a mutation, pretty much what quirks are believed to have originally been. Now when it comes to the birth of quirks, there is the belief that quirks were the next step to human evolution, and the mutation was nature's way of accomplishing that. Now there are holes in that argument, but with Izuku I think there is evidence that it is partially right. Izuku being born without a quirk factor was due to a random, but consistent mutation." Said Dr. Okimi pointing to an X-ray that showed an extra joint in one of Izuku's toes.
"There are two types of quirklessness, the first is a person born as a regular human before the age of quirks. That is the most common, whereas Izuku has the second but more uncommon extra toe joint. What this joint has to do with quirklessness we don't know, but it's consistent. The point is that it's a relatively recent development with almost no study done on the subject, there is just no interest in it. There have also been few cases in which this sort of study could happen, the quirkless demographic is more likely to commit suicide than any other demographic on the planet. The reason is obvious, but it is part of the reason why a study on it has not happened. Izuku however has demonstrated superhuman levels of physical prowess, and that is why we have done extensive research into it." Said Dr. Okimi now excited.
"Nothing in Izuku's DNA suggests that a new organelle like the quirk factor was at work, nor could we find anything in his blood or tissue samples. Instead, he developed like a normal human, up until he hit adulthood. Once he hit adulthood, we think he underwent a second growth spurt. His body strengthened itself from the top down. He has more condensed muscle, stronger bones, heightened perception, and a sharper mind. He is what people would have called super-human before the age of quirks. He is just a superior human from a biological perspective, even in comparison to people with quirks." Dr. Okimi said.
"If quirks were a new step in the evolution of humanity as some beliefs posit, then Izuku's brand of quirklessness seems to be in reaction to quirks. People like Izuku would have a greater probability of survival against people with quirks." Dr. Okimi said, curbing her enthusiasm for the subject and settling back into her seat.
Ochako didn't move, just stared at the mess of medical documents proving that Izuku and The Hunter were in fact one and the same. She gripped the edge of the table, her knuckles white from the amount of force she was using to keep herself standing. The shock was settling in, she felt weak at the knees, a tightness in her chest and throat, and lightheaded. She felt her grip lessen as the weakness spread to her hands. She let go of the table and staggered backward until her back hit the wall and she slid down it.
Three Years Previously...
She had to get away, she should have listened to her mother and not gone out at night. What had she been thinking? She hadn't been, like so many moments before, she didn't consider the consequences and now she might never see her family or friends again. Her bare feet slapped across the pavement, echoing all around, making it all the easier for her pursuers to find her.
As she ran, she stepped on something sharp and cried out in pain as she tripped and fell. She tried to get up but felt someone seize her hair and yank her head up. A hand went over her mouth as she tried to yell. Tears streamed down her face as she tried to struggle free, but a punch to her gut caused her to curl up in pain as she tried to get air in her lungs.
"Finally got the bitch huh?" came a gruff voice.
"Yeah, now pass me the cuffs and gag. The sooner we get out of here the better, someone might have called the cops if anyone was listening." Came the closer of the two voices, this one wasn't as deep as the other.
She was quickly gagged and her wrists and ankles were quickly cuffed, then she was hoisted upright and slapped across the face which made her head spin. Then she was hoisted over one shoulder as she was carried off.
The two men didn't far though when a figure stepped out of the shadows.
"Put the lady down." came a youthful voice.
The man with the gruff voice just laughed, "You ain't no hero kid, so don't even try. You really shouldn't have intervened cause now I'm going to have t-" his voice was cut off when he screamed in pain.
She was dropped to the ground, where she tried her best to get up, but she was too weak. With nothing else, she turned around and froze in shock.
A man all in black had appeared and was fighting the kidnappers. The man who had screamed in pain had one knee on the ground as he clutched at a broken wrist. His fellow was furiously trying to kill the vigilante using his fingers which had turned into lacerating whips. The man in black however just dodged around the attacks, then in a sudden burst of movement closed in on his target and seized the man's whip fingers at the base. He spun the man around and then slammed him down to the ground. Then kicked the man in the head, which seemed to render the criminal unconscious.
Then the man in black approached the larger man swiftly, he dodged a clumsy punch, then seized the man's other wrist and swiftly broke it as well. The man cried out again, then the woman watched with horror as the man in black slowly beat the man into submission.
The large man had both arms broken, his head was slammed into the concrete ground, and kicked in the stomach multiple times. The man in black talked to the man as he beat him, punctuating every other word with a blow.
"YOU FUCKING ANIMAL, YOU LIVING PILE OF MISERY AND EVIL, HOW DOES IT FEEL TO EXPERIENCE EVEN A FRACTION OF THE PAIN YOU'VE INFLICTED ON OTHERS!? I'LL CUT OFF YOUR FUCKING TOES, SEVER YOUR HANDS, TEAR OFF YOUR NOSE, RIP OUT YOUR EYES UNTIL ALL YOU LEFT AT YOUR EARS. SO YOU CAN HEAR THE CRIES OF HORROR AS PEOPLE GAZE UPON YOU! THEN MAYBE, MAYBE, YOU WILL COME TO UNDERSTAND THE HORRORS YOU'VE UNLEASHED ON THIS WORLD!" The man continued like this for some time, until the man eventually fell unconscious ceasing the man's cries of pain and pleading.
The man in black stood over the men, breathing heavily. The woman tried to inch backward, only now noticing she had soiled herself. Her movement caught the man's eye however and he turned in her direction. She cried into her gag as she tried to inch away from the man, whose hands were covered in blood. Fresh tears fell from her face as he got closer. The man went down to one knee and stretch a hand toward her. Then unlocked the cuffs on her ankles and wrists, then removed her gag.
She immediately screamed and ran as fast as she could from the man. Only stopping when she came to a police car.
The man in black watched her as she ran, then looked at his blood-covered black gloves, then looked back at the violence he had caused. He felt a burst of shame, and guilt, but also a rush of righteous satisfaction. Izuku looked around, noting that there had been no police, no heroes, no help, except for him.
He looked upon the villains, and he felt his hate and anger rise, he kicked them once more before turning and leaving the scene as sirens got closer.
Ochako sat against the wall, knees brought up to her chest, her forehead resting upon them.
"Why..." she said, voice small.
She started shaking.
"Why...? Why can't I just be happy...?" she said, voice breaking as she started crying.
"I just... I just want to be happy... I don't care about heroes or villains, I just want something in my life that isn't horrible, is that too much to ask? Why does everything have to end this way? Did I do something to deserve this? For once I had something that made me happy, and even that turned out to be rotten..." she said, whispering, so quiet that no one but Nezu could hear with his heightened animal hearing.
Nezu got down from his chair and walked over to Ochako. He put a paw on her shoulder, which caused her to look up at him, tears streaming down her face.
"Ms. Uraraka, were you happy on your date with Midoriya?" he asked.
Ochako sniffed and wiped her face with her sleeve, before nodding.
"Do you think that happiness was fake? Or that Midoriya's happiness was fake?" he asked.
Ochako hiccuped again but shook her head before speaking, "Izuku... Izuku could have been lying..." she said, hating herself for considering the possibility.
Then she noticed Sasakura walk over to the two of them and drop into a seiza position in front of her.
"Ms. Uraraka, after your date with Midoriya, he couldn't stop smiling all night. Seeing Izuku smile is not common, since I first gave him a place to stay and work, up until the two of you met, I could count on one hand the number of times I had seen him smile. Izuku had precious little to smile about, both of you have suffered greatly, but you made him smile. Like you, he was happy." Sasakura said the most serious look she had ever seen on the man's face.
"Do not doubt that, never doubt that happiness the two of you shared on that date," he said.
Ochako hiccuped, sniffed, but nodded.
"Ms. Uraraka, I want what is best for you, I want what is best for all my students. I have seen hundreds of students enter the doors of U.A. and then eventually leave. Sometimes they leave happy, but sometimes they leave sad, heartbroken, or bitter. So, if there is one thing I can say with certainty, it is that Midoriya needs you, just as much as you need him." He said gently.
"Do not give up on your desire for happiness, your desire to see a better, more peaceful world. A world where two people can meet, fall in love, and be happy without the horrors of war hanging over them and destroying them. You can be happy, gods know you deserve it. But you have to be willing to be hurt in the process. That too is a part of finding happiness." Sasakura said, a sadness in his eyes as he said it.
Ochako sniffed then looked at Sasakura.
"When... When your wife and unborn child died, what did you do? How did you manage to be happy?" she asked him.
She saw his eyes glaze over for a moment, as memories flashed through his mind, before focusing on her again.
"I... I took my revenge. I tracked down and fought through the thugs the villain had hired. When I got to him, I was ready to kill him then and there. But as I stood poised to deliver the final blow, I hesitated, it was as if my wife was there with me, holding my arm back. I knew, at that moment, that if I killed him, then my wife would truly be dead. Both physically and within me, if I had killed him, then it would have meant killing her. So I retired, I paid a price for the power I used to bring him to justice and would never again be able to be a hero. After that, I was lost, for years I struggled. I didn't think I would happy again, but time passed, and the wound that I thought might kill me, became a scar. I inherited my family's bar and collection of artifacts and I found a level of enjoyment in the work. Then one day, I realized I was content. Maybe not happy, but content. Then I met Izuku, and that truly did change my life. I helped him, and by helping him, guiding him, he had helped me as well. That was when I realized I was happy. Izuku is like the child I never had the opportunity to know." Sasakura said, looking up toward the ceiling as if he could see through it to the sky above.
Then he looked down to meet her eyes before continuing. "Finding happiness after we have suffered can be a great struggle, at times we may think we may never be happy again, but if we are willing to search for it, and never give up on it, then we can find it. You can find it too, perhaps you and Izuku together can find it. So please, don't give up either yourself or him." Sasakura finished.
Ochako thought about those words for a long time, she thought about Izuku and how she HAD been happy with him. At that moment, she resolved herself. Yes, Izuku was a violent vigilante, yes he was technically a criminal, but even so, could she blame him? She probably would have turned out similar under similar circumstances. She could understand Izuku's desire to fight, to do something about a world that seemed hellbent on their destruction. She could also understand his split views on heroes, heroes had failed society, but there were still so many who truly wanted to help, heroes worthy of respect and admiration. She had the war, a place to vent her anger, her hate, and all of her sorrow. Izuku hadn't had that convenient outlet, he had been forced to stuff it all inside until it had become too heavy a burden to bear by himself, and it broke him.
Ochako shifted from her position on the floor. She managed to stand up, a hand on the wall for support. She still felt weak, but with her newfound resolve, strength was beginning to return to her. She turned away from the table and started toward the door.
"If you are leaving to find Izuku, you won't be able to." Said Sasakura.
Everyone in the room turned their attention to him, even Nezu had a frown on his face.
"Izuku's left, he'll be on his way with the assault teams to fight Zeus," he said gravely.
"That shouldn't be possible, every group has a leader who knows exactly who will be in each group. How could he just hitch a ride?" asked Naomasa, a worried look on his face.
"I don't know, but I am certain he will find a way. He is nothing, if not devoted to a goal he sets himself. He likely left with the earlier convoy, he left a note for me this morning. I only found it shortly before I came here since I tend to sleep in and am slow to rise in general."
"While not ideal, there is nothing we can do I'm afraid." Said Nezu.
"I'm going after him," Ochako said, making her way to the door.
"I'm afraid I can't allow that Ms. Uraraka. Until such a time that I deem appropriate, you will remain here in case of emergency. I'm sorry." Nezu said, reaching out and grasping her arm with a paw.
She grit her teeth in frustration, she wanted desperately to talk to Izuku, but she couldn't disobey her orders.
"Fine," she said, then stormed out of the room.
Two and a Half Years Previously...
Izuku stalked through the alleyways, stopping once in a while to examine the area for indicators of where his quarry had gone. It had started raining recently, and while light and just misty, already the clues were fading fast. He'd have to speed up and hope that a more obvious sign would be ahead.
He started running, crossing two streets and through more alleyways. The darkness obscured him well, and there were precious few people on the streets in this city. As he entered another alleyway he started to hear the signs of fighting. He doubled back and went down a side path, before coming across a small parking lot, where he saw his quarry the unlucky hero to be chosen tonight.
Stain wove in between the cars like a shadow, throwing knives when he could. The hero, desperately blocked Stain's attacks with a wind shield on one arm while throwing air discs with the other. Like so many before him though, the hero was no match for the calculating mind of Stain.
Stain withdrew a knife on a thin wire and distracted the hero with another set of knives, he whipped the knife around a lampost which allowed him to bypass the hero's shield. The knife slashed across the hero's back and he staggered. Stain quickly drew the knife back to himself and licked the blade. The hero crumpled on the spot, while Stain sedately started retrieving his knives and sheathing them.
Stain approached the hero, drawing his katana as he did so.
"You pose as a hero, a defender of the law and the people, all while secretly stealing from those you have sworn to protect. You are no hero, you are a disease, and you must be purged if heroism is to survive." He said, raising his sword.
"No! You got it wrong!" pleaded the hero from where he lay helpless on the ground.
"And now you lie to save yourself." Stain said in disgust.
As Stain prepared to deliver the final blow, Izuku ran forward and threw a small knife of his own. The knife struck Stain's blade, deflecting the blow in time to save the hero. Stain turned to face his new opponent and paused, eyes narrowing.
"You're not a hero, who are you?" he demanded, withdrawing several knives in readiness.
Izuku didn't answer, for the simple fact that he didn't know what or who he was anymore. He'd been tracking the League's movements, hoping to find an opportunity to get Zeus alone. He'd been helping people along the way, and tonight he had come across one of the most dangerous men in perhaps the entire world. A man just as adept at killing heroes, as Izuku had been at killing villains back when he was with the QSU.
"Hmmm... why save this wretch?" Stain asked jerking his head to the hero.
"He may be scum, but he can still redeem himself. The frontlines always need more people, and I've ensured he won't have a choice. He either goes and helps fight the League, or I reveal everything he's done to the media." Izuku said, glaring at the hero.
"That's not good enough! He defiles the title of hero! He must be purged, so that a more just society may be built atop his corpse!" He roared, eyes mad.
"Then I'll stop you," Izuku said simply, drawing his own combat knife.
Stain lunged at him in a blur, he was fast and his lunge was a feint. Rather than going for the lunge Izuku expected, he dipped his sword toward the ground and instead threw a knife with his offhand.
Izuku rolled to the side, evading the attack, and was immediately hard-pressed to defend himself as Stain pressed the attack.
Izuku's knife was strong though and he easily deflected the attacks within centimeters of his body. Then Izuku countered when he saw an opening and went into a quick disarming maneuver.
Stain backpedaled and despite his closeness, Izuku couldn't stay on top of him.
The fight raged on like this for a while. Neither side landed a blow, and before long they were both panting his the exertion of their fight.
Then the hero stirred and started to get up. Izuku's eyes never left Stains, neither side willing to give the other the advantage by looking at the hero. Out of his peripheral vision, Izuku noted that the hero had lost a lot of blood while paralyzed.
"Leave. You're done here. Go volunteer to help fight the League, or the police will be calling for you by tomorrow night." Izuku said.
The hero got up and started limping away, cursing all the while. Stain became visibly agitated as the hero left, an eye twitched and a vein bulged.
"Now that we're alone, I have something I want to ask you," Izuku said.
Stain's answer was to narrow his eyes and bare his teeth.
"I want you to train me," Izuku said.
The idea had been a sudden one, born from the fight he had just had with the man. Stain was formidable, even without his quirk, he was one of the deadliest people Izuku had seen. If Izuku could learn from him, then perhaps finding and killing Zeus wasn't such a pipedream after all. There was also the fact that Stain was actually better than him. He hated to admit it, but Stain had come too close to either killing or severely wounding him on several occasions. Meanwhile, Izuku had only managed to land what would become bad bruises later. He would not win a prolonged fight.
"What?" Stain said, suspicion and anger clear in his voice.
"I want to learn from you. You're powerful, you know how to fight people like heroes, which means you can teach me how to fight like that as well." Izuku said.
"You sound like those idiots who follow my beliefs, but you're different. Why?." He asked, starting to relax his stance.
Izuku started to relax as well. "You hunt heroes, I hunt villains. They might as well be the same thing, with your teachings I might be able to kill Zeus." Izuku said.
"Villains huh... let's say I do train you, what will do when you've learned all I can teach you?" He asked.
"Kill Zeus, hunt villains, and then finally... Hunt you." Izuku said.
There was a pause and then Stain started to laugh.
"You want me to teach you how to hunt villains, knowing that you'll use my own skills against me?" He asked, eyes wide, a crazed smile on his face.
Izuku said nothing, but the mad expression was making Izuku reconsider his idea.
"You... You are very different, you and I are two sides of the same coin. When we are done, then it will be interesting to see who is the better hunter. Follow me if you want, but don't get in my way." Stain said, turning and leaving.
Feeling unsure about the bargain he had made, but determined to exact his vengeance on Zeus and all villains he cast aside his doubts and better judgment.
Izuku followed Stain, and so doing, set himself on a path we would never be able to walk away from.
