Izuku had a smile wide enough to split his face.

He could feel his skin crawling as the heat in his body rose.

He could see the Yamikumo members staring at him, eyes wide. So many of them towered over him before, but now, as he watched them start to tremble at the sight of him, he felt like a giant.

In the back of his mind Izuku, wondered if this was what Akatani felt that night that he kidnapped his mother.

Akatani. Need to get to Akatani.

He scanned the crowd of yakuza again before he let his eye(the one that he bled into was clenched shut) rest on one of the men directly in front of him. They all stood behind and seemed to defer to him, he was probably a lieutenant or something similar. He'd read about them while he was looking into his uncle's murder.

"Ne, Yamikumo-chan. I've got a question for ya."

The captain that he had singled out, snapped to attention, "W-what is it?"

"How many of you…" His bloody grin grew wider here and he could feel the skin crawling feeling only increase by second,"are willin' to die for yer boss?"

He could see a lot of their faces pale. That was good, he needed fear for this to work.

He took a step forward.

They took a step back.

He took another step forward.

They took another step back.

Let's make this work.

He stared them down again, letting the smile drop from his face.

He opened his mouth and spoke plainly, "Jyama de, Nikubukuro."

As firm a grip as he seemed to have on them before saying that line, it disappeared and the feeling of his skin crawling ceased as well.

They charged him altogether and he charged them right back.

He ran at the lieutenant, who led the group in their charge, and was struck by a flash of on-the-fly inspiration.

Only got one shot, let's make it work.

He continued his run and waited until he was just a few feet away from the leader of the pack before dropping into a sliding tackle and sliding through the legs of the pack leader.

He could feel it, the Heat was coursing through him at full force. He could do it.

[!]Climax Heat Move: Essence of Crowd Control

He popped up quickly, right in front of a yakuza that was still running.

Before he could react to the boy's sudden appearance in front of him, Izuku scrambled up the man's body and delivered a vicious headbutt to the bridge of his nose.

CRACK!

"AH! FUCK!"

He pulled back and did it again.

THWACK!

He quickly kicked off of the man, springing backwards and flying into the lieutenant, who was positioned in front of his first victim.

Arm hooked around the man's neck, he began to swing around, legs flying and striking anyone within reach.

Roku…

Thwack!

Ichi…

Whack!

After hitting a few more people, he used all of his momentum to bring down his human swingpost with a-

SLAM!

Kyu!

It's a good thing that he watched so much wrestling with Taichi, some of those American wrestlers were so acrobatic.

He had taken down half a dozen yakuza with that one move.

That had stopped all of the others advancing in their tracks.

He could feel it again. That feeling of his skin crawling, it came back in full force with a bit of extra kick.

And if he could feel it, he was sure that they could too.

He looked at them again, and there it was.

That hesitance in their eyes, hesitance that sat by just the tiniest bit of fear.

Good, I can't waste anymore time.

Planting one foot on the back of the yakuza that he just slammed, Izuku turned his attention to the remaining, but now stock-still yakuza in front of him.

When he spoke, he spoke clearly to all of them, "Yamikumo-gumi!"

He could see them tense.

"Look and listen closely! This guy's a lieutenant, ain't he?"

They all remained silent.

"AIN'T HE?"

They all jumped and nodded so quickly in affirmation that a battalion of bobbleheads would be jealous.

"So if I could do this to him so quickly…" He grinned again and sweeped his gaze across the men as a number of them gulped audibly, "Just imagine what I could do to you."

And that was the nail in the coffin.

The remaining kicked up dust as they ran, not even looking back to entertain the thought of retrieving their fallen comrades.

And with that, Izuku could advance to the tower.

It was a short walk to the tower from the Sunken Garden. However short it was, though, the feeling of his skin crawling, that foulness, wouldn't go away.

It dogged him with every step that he took.

The Heat had died down a little bit, as well. While it had been a roaring inferno mere moments before, it dimmed to something a little less than a candle light.

The tower was right there, just a few steps in front of him. Tsukauchi wasn't there, but he could hardly go and search around the entire park.

Akatani was so close. He was going to get to Akatani and end this.

Catch up, Tsukauchi-san. Please.

He walked to the doors of the tower and pushed.

CREEEAK!

And inside… there was nothing. No suits of armor or exhibits, not even a stone floor. There was nothing. Nothing but the echoing sound of his quarry's voice.

"My answer is no." He sounded serious, deathly so.

A beat of silence. Izuku began to encroach upon the area that he heard the voice from.

"Why? Because it's a ridiculous notion. I don't think you realize how intrinsic they are to the society we live in."

Another beat. He was close now. There was a wall with an empty doorway, the room on the other side was where Akatani's voice was coming from.

"Listen to me closely now. I've done a lot of shit in the past six years, none of it that I'm proud of, nothing that I'd ever let my mother know if she were still around. But if you think you're gonna intimidate me into joining your little coup, you've got another thing coming, Kyoudai."

Kyoudai?

He hadn't heard that word before, he had to look it up later.

"Shove it, Chisaki."

Click!

Chisaki...

Why did he feel the faintest hint of dread when he heard that name?

"You can come out now, Midoriya-chan. I'd thank you for letting me finish my conversation if I didn't know you were eavesdropping for half of it."

The jig was up, so Izuku stepped through the doorway to face the murderous bastard himself.

And he looked… annoyed.

Mikumo Akatani, for all intents and purposes, looked pissed.

He leaned against the wall on the far side of the empty room.

His eyes were shut, his eyebrow twitching.

His mouth was turned down in a discontented frown.

His arms were crossed, with one gloved hand gripping his sleeve and clenching harshly on the expensive looking fabric.

All in a second, that all seemed to disappear. Akatani's grin returned to its vicious form upon his face, his posture straightened and his arms returned to his sides, hands in pockets, as pushed off of the wall that he was leaning against.

"You're not looking too good. Trip and fall on the way here?"

"One of your 'friends' knocked me down in the garden."

"Oh, my deepest apologies. Is there anything I could make up for that."

"You could just drop dead."

"Oh, so much venom. And here I thought we had something special." He turned, wiped away an invisible tear, and sobbed.

Izuku's fists clenched, "You murdered my mother."

Akatani ceased his faux crying and gave Izuku a condescending stare.

He put a hand back in his pocket before running a hand through his hair and asking, "Midoriya-chan, are you really still caught on that? It's more your fault for breaking the rules. I don't see how you're angry at anyone but yourself."

"I didn't break any rules, you bastard! You didn't say anything about bringing in the police."

"Hmph. You got me, then. You're right, Midoriya-chan. I was planning to shoot your mother the whole time. Do you wanna know why?"

"Tell me."

"To show you that you can't be a hero."

Izuku saw red.

He charged Akatani, appearing across the room in seconds, arm in motion for a quick straight.

SMACK!

A quick straight that was quickly caught in Akatani's hand.

Mikumo Akatani

Patriarch of The Yamikumo Clan

"Not bad, but you're gonna have to try harder than that Midorya-chan."

He pushed back, and Izuku jumped back and took his stance.

Akatani reached for his shoulder and grabbed his suit jacket.

He took one good pull and his torso was completely bare, showing off an incredibly cut physique.

After that, he entered his fighting stance.

A simple, grounded stance that he could sense a fair amount of power in.

One fist by his chin, the other by his bicep, hips square with Izuku's.

"If you're feeling brave, come at me, Little Hero."

Izuku took that challenge.

Within seconds, he had Akatani in striking range again and was lashing out with an elbow.

SMACK!

Blocked again, this time by a knee and he ducked down and forward quickly to avoid the roundhouse kick that came his way just after.

Whoosh!

He dodged by a hair's breadth.

"Look at you. I guess handicapability runs in the family." He gestured with his left eye, the one that Izuku had clenched shut.

"Shut up and die, you scumbag."

He turned and kicked at the man, heel first.

THUD!

Only to find his leg firmly in the grasp of his opponent.

He came around with a kick from the other leg.

THUD!

That leg was caught as well.

Akatani grinned, "Up, up, and away-you-GO!"

Slam!

Draaag!

Izuku hit the ground hard and was soon dragged and thrown into the air.

Looking down, he could see Akatani winding up for a punch.

Izuku could feel a smirk coming on.

Gotcha!

[!]Improvised Heat Move: Essence of Hokorikumo

He clenched the dirt that he had grasped in his hand while he was dragged and waited until he began to fall.

Wait for it…

Akatani winded up a bit more.

Wait for it…

He watched Akatani's muscles tense in anticipation.

Wait…

He was close now, he could feel the Heat in his stomach. Akatani's fist was coming for him, straight towards his stomach.

Now!

He twisted his body and threw the dirt directly into Akatni's eyes.

"Ack! Shit!"

"Eat this, asshole!"

And while still twisting his body, he used his legs in a spinning kick, catching Akatani across his jaw, sending him flying.

THWACK!

"Unff!"

Unfortunately for Izuku, he couldn't celebrate the strike he had just gotten on his opponent-

SLAM!

-as he hit the ground hard on his side.

"Agggh!"

He writhed for a few moments.

Can't stop here, Akatani's right there.

He forced himself through the pain and got up, looking towards Akatani to see him doing the same.

And all of the sudden, he could feel that same feeling of foulness from two nights before. The same foulness that he felt crawling across his skin earlier.

Akatani stared him down, that same vicious grin on his dirt-covered face from two nights before.

Izuku stared back blankly and he felt his skin crawl again.

"Is that supposed to scare me?"

Akatani's grin shrank slightly, becoming far less vicious as a result. It almost seemed… kind.

"Alright, what say we end this, Midoriya-chan?"

Izuku nodded and felt the foulness recede once again, with his Heat rising as well, "Yeah, let's do that, Akatani."

They squared off once more, hips squared, legs bent and ready to kick off. Izuku could feel it again.

He could Feel The Heat.

THUD!

And in a flash, they were in the middle of the room again, Izuku's fist buried into Akatani's stomach, while the latter coughed blood and spittle and fell to the side.

And the fight was over.

Not for Izuku though, as he mounted Akatani's chest and began pummeling the man's face.

Thud!

Thwack!

Thud!

Thwack!

He kept hitting him.

"Happy Late Birthday, Izu-chan. Go on, open your gift."

He started hitting harder.

THUD!

THWACK!

THUD!

THWACK!

THUD!

"I love you, sweetie!"

He started hitting faster.

THUD!
THUD!
THWACK!

"- my number one hero!"

"Even greater than All Might!"

THUD!
THUD!
THWACK!
THUD!
THUD!
THWACK!

And the entire time that he did it, Akatani didn't even lift a finger to defend himself.

He just laid down and took it.

Until eventually, Izuku just stopped.

He stopped, looked Akatani in his eyes, past the blood and swelling that he inflicted, and asked one thing.

"Why?"

Akatani grinned again, coughing a bit more blood, before answering, "Because, you were weak."

"What?"

A wheezy chuckle here, "Midoriya-chan. You just don't understand how weak you are on the world's scale. You don't get to be stronger than All Might, just because 'you really want it'. I'd know that better than anyone."

"What do you mean?"

"Because…" He coughed again "I wanted to be a hero, too."

Izuku's blood ran cold.

"You… what?"

"That's right, I wanted to be a hero. Just like you."

"No, no, nonononono…"

"Yeah, got as far as the U.A. Entrance Exam … and then I flopped."

Flopped?

"The Hero Course doesn't want quirkless brats, no matter how hard they work, or how much they wanna help. They want kids with flashy quirks to make headlines when they grow up."

Shut up…

He could feel his skin crawl again.

"We're nothing but scum on the side of their shoes. Not even footnotes in the grand annals of history."

Stop it…

His skin was writhing at this point.

"And you couldn't even protect your mother from a two-bit thug like me. How are you gonna become a hero that can save everyone?"

SHUT THE HELL UP!

He felt the Heat again burning through his writhing skin and he cocked back his fist for one more devastating punch.

"Midoriya-kun, no!"

He could feel someone grab his fist before he could bring it down on Akatani's face and turned to see… a very sweaty and dirty Tsukauchi.

"Midoriya-kun, he's had enough."

"Tsukauchi-san, you know what he's done."

"I do, and he'll pay for it. In prison."

"That's not enough!"

"Izuku!"

Izuku stared hard at the detective.

"I don't care if you never trust me on anything ever again, but please, trust when I say this. If you kill him now, you'll be killing a part of yourself that you can never get back."

With this, Tsukauchi loosened his grip on Izuku's fist.

And Izuku turned his gaze back onto Akatani.

He raised his fist again, his skin still burning and writhing all the while.

And brought it down hard-

Right next to Akatani's face.

"Where's my mother's body?"

Akatani smirked, "I knew I had a good feeling about-"

THUD!

"Don't. Test. Me."

"Alright, you won the game. So here's your prize. Your mother is in Tokyo."

"What?'

"Just before you got here. I sent her on her way to Tokyo. Depending on which entrance you came in from, you might've actually seen her leaving."

-Group of men in black who stood near the Higashi Gomon, only parting for a black car to pass through and over the bridge.

Izuku stared through the windows, Akatani wasn't there.

"Which part of Tokyo?"

"The dazzling city of red lights that's seen more chaos and triumph than this whole island nation."

"Stop waxing poetic, and tell us."

"She's in Kamurocho, dear boy. Kamurocho."

Izuku turned to Tsukauchi.

His pupils were ringed with gold.

Izuku got off of Akatani and let Tsukauchi turn the yakuza onto his stomach, cuffing him immediately.

Akatani had one more thing to ask, however, "Ne, Detective-san?"

"What is it?"

"Would you mind checking the gun in my jacket? There's something you might find interesting in there."

"You realize you're asking a police officer to tamper with evidence, right?"

"I'm already under arrest, and I doubt that you're here legally, so…"

"This better not be a trick."

"Trust me, if I wanted to trick you, we wouldn't be talking here right now."

With a sigh, Tsukauchi walked over to Akatani's abandoned jacket and shirt and pulled a semi-automatic pistol from it.

Akatani smiled and said, "Check the magazine."

He did so and pulled out one of the bullets.

He took a look at it before his eyes widened.

"These are-!"

Akatani's smile widened further, "That's right. Rubber bullets."

And when his eyes turned on Izuku, they took on a softer edge as he said, "I'm not hero material, kid. But looking at you, I think I've found someone who might be."

Three hours later…

Back on the road, Izuku ran his fingers over new gauze on his forehead.

After the whole debacle at Sunpu, Shizuoka Law Enforcement arrived and arrested Akatani and most of the Yamikumo Clan on the scene.

Akatani didn't put up a fight, and when he came across one of his family members who were, he just stared them down until they stopped and complied.

He said nothing. Not a single word to anyone. And whenever he looked at Izuku, he just smiled and nodded.

After the police took away the Yamikumo Clan, they took Izuku's and Tsukauchi's statements, patching them up as they did so.

And so, three hours later, they were back on their way to Tokyo.

Tsukauchi had got in contact with an old friend of his from the Police Academy, Tanimura-san or something similar, and had gotten information about a place called New Serena. It would apparently be the best place for the two of them to start finding information about his mother's whereabouts.

But first.

"Ne, Midoriya-kun?"

"Hm?"

"You doing alright?"

"... Yeah, I'm fine."

"Judge Eyes says differently."

"Dammit."

"Language."

"I know."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Okay, I'm here whenever you do."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Fine."

"So, what's up?"

"It's just… I almost killed him, Tsukauchi-san."

"Akatani?"

"Yeah. I almost killed him and became just like him. I-I- almost, I almost…" His breathing was heavy and he was starting to tear up.

And then, he felt a firm hand land on his shoulder. He turned to see Tsukauchi with his eyes still on the road with a firm grip on his shoulder.

"It's fine, let it all out."

And he did. For a good five minutes, he cried his eyes out while Tsukauchi remained silent and supportive.

And when he finally composed himself after those five minutes, Tsukauchi spoke.

"You're not like Akatani."

"Huh?"

"You're nothing like Akatani. You're a kind young boy who has helped every that he could in Musutafu for the past six years with no wish for a reward. You're not a monster, just because of what you might've done after being put under pressure that would've broken most people. You know what you are?"

"What?"

"You're Izuku Midoriya. Little Hero of Musutafu, future number one hero of the world, and... my friend."

Tsukauchi's words actually blew Izuku away. He'd never heard someone speak about him like that before. It felt… nice.

"Tsukauchi-san… Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

He noticed that they were slowing down, and he could see a huge red glow right in front of them.

They made it.

They had made it back to Tokyo.

They made it to Kamurocho.

Terms to know-

Hokorikumo- Dust Cloud

Kyoudai- Sworn Brother