Izuku's POV
Late afternoon early evening patrols were becoming more common now that he had Katsuki around. The blond would patrol with him to learn the ins and outs of how they did things. It was somewhat different than their normal patrols. Being out and about during daylight hours meant they were in their civilian clothes. As well as they couldnt jump into a fight at a moment's notice. There was nothing protecting their identities.
Besides the patrols Katsuki joined them in their combat training. More often than not he was the first to be thrown from their battle circle. Lack of experience and not being allowed to his quirk played a heavy role in that.
Izuku was pleasantly impressed with how quickly Katsuki was picking up their techniques. He could at the very least handle a knife and defend himself if one was pulled on him. They had also gone over how to disarm someone with a gun.
Currently Izuku was finishing his last round of the patrol before he would meet up with Katsuki back at Castle. He had been focused on the Red Light recently. There were rumors going around a major drug deal was going down. So far he had been unable to confirm anything.
While he was in the Red Light District Katsuki was patrolling the north side of town. They were in constant communications through the comms that Orion made for them. Echo and Charlie had gotten afternoon jobs under the table to help feed their growing group.
A static sound came through his comms and Katsuki said, "Things are quiet here. I'm heading back to Castle."
Izuku discretely raised his hand and said, "Go ahead and return to Castle. I'm going to finish this circuit before returning as well."
A few of the civilians across the street looked at him oddly. He gave them a goofy airhead smile. It seemed to work as they continued about their business.
Katsuki replied with a sigh, "Understood. Heading back now."
Izuku turned to head into the next alley when the ground underneath him shook. He grabbed onto the brick of the building next to him. The shakes continued for several long moments.
When the shaking stopped Izuku let go of the building. All around the streets people screamed. Izuku turned around and cursed under his breath. Quake was back in town and that did not bode well for any of them.
Izuku said activating the comms, "Katsuki get suited up and head to my position. I'm activating the emergency signal. We have an S-Rank villain attacking here. All I have is ky knife on me."
Orion said with a growl, "Delta dont you dare go after him alone."
The ground shook again Izuku could see the way the buildings cracked. They were unable to withstand the quirk. He could see pieces breaking off and hitting the ground shattering the concrete. This was a dangerous situation.
Heroes were already arriving on the scene as he activated his emergency beacon. However their focus was not on the civilians in danger. They were focused on the villain. A good thing for him since he was in his civilian clothes.
Izuku slipped out of the alleyway watching as the heroes engaged the villain and assessing where he was needed. The building closest to the fight. It looked as if it would crumble at any moment. If there were people in it they would be trapped.
Rushing through the crowd of people he entered the building. Already civilians were trying to make their way out. He pushed past them shouting out directions. More on instinct than anything else they obeyed without question.
Civilians were like sheep. They obeyed the orders of anyone who took charge as sheep took orders from a sheepdog. If they were slightly smarter then he might have been in trouble. Izuku did not look old enough to be a hero course student much less have his provisional license.
On top of that the nearest hero school was UA and no one would have seen his face when they broadcast the Sports Festival. People from all over Japan watched the Festival to know who their next protectors would be. They would remember someone with as unique facial features as his own.
As he passed doors he banged on them announcing a villain attack and everyone needed to evacuate in a loud commanding voice. It took a few tries but eventually people began to follow his commands. Coming out of their apartments as he moved onto the next door.
By the time he reached the third floor, the last that needed to be cleared an attack had blasted it way through a nearby wall. This blocked the main stairwell of the building trapping those still left inside. Around him the civilians he had already gotten out of their apartments panicked.
"Orion," he called out over his comms, "I need floor plans of the apartment building I'm in. We are trapped on the third floor. No obvious way down."
There was silence for a moment before Orion replied, "There is a fire escape on the east side of the building. It will be enough to get you and the civilians down if you go a couple at a time. The problem being..."
"Its right in the middle of the villain versus hero fight," finished Izuku, "Shit. Alright we will figure something out. Thanks for the information."
After finding the fire escape he and testing it he started to send people down. They went three at a time with children and the elderly going first. Izuku sat on the ledge watching they alley keenly. Quake and the heroes were at the otherside giving him time to get the civilians out.
Within moments as the second set of people were going down Katsuki arrived. He wore a dark red hoodie and black pants. Unlike Izuku, Katsuki chose to wear a face mask to conceal his identity instead of a cowl.
Izuku started drawing the remaining civilians' attention to him, "Alright listen up. We are still going to have three at a time go down the fire escape. While we are doing this KEM here is going to take two at a time to street level. Once you are safely down to street level get out of the alleyway. There is an S-Rank villain out there fighting. We don't need anyone to be taken hostage today."
A male civilian in his late fifties questioned unsure, "How do we know that we can trust you? I've never heard of the Hero KEM and you look way to young to be a hero course student much less a Pro."
Izuku replied forcefully, "You dont know for sure that I can be trusted. However we are your best shot at getting away safely. If you dont trust KEM then you can wait to go down on the fire escape. My goal here is to make everyone gets down as safe and efficiently as possible."
To his immense relief there werent any other arguments from the man. Things could go sideways at any moment and their position was exposed. With the other's help they were able to get the rest down quickly. Using Katsuki to get them down was a lot safe than waiting and watching. Their biggest fear had been Quake turning his attention to the civilians. If that had happened Izuku may have had to step in and fight as well.
As the last of their civilians arrived on the ground more heroes arrived. Some went to avoid the evacuees while others went to aid in the battle.
To Katsuki he said, "I'm going to do one more sweep of the floor. You should get out of here before they start taking statements."
"You sure?"
"Positive," he replied, "Even if they were to detain me they have nothing to hold me on. I didnt use a quirk and I stayed out of the heroes way. Go."
"See you back at Castle then."
From there Izuku did a room by room search of the floor. He called out commands loudly trying to find any stragglers. Briefly he paused at the last finding it locked. All the other doors had been unlocked. No one wanted to risk their safety by taking the time. Even if it was the Red Light District.
He was glad he had paused. There was shuffling on the other side of the door. He could hear the muffled sounds of someone trying to say something. There was no time to hesitate as the building rocked again with the power of Quake's quirk.
Izuku picked the lock efficiently and came face to face with a girl about his age. She had pink hair and bright green yellow eyes. Her hands were tied behind her back and tape was placed over her mouth.
Soothingly he said, "Hey my name is Izuku. I'm going to get you out of here. Dont be afraid."
It didnt take but a few seconds to cut her free and remove the tape. When he did he questioned, "Are you injured?"
Before she could answer the ground shook again. A deafening angry roar could be heard from outside. Parts of the ceiling came free and rained down upon them. It was only thanks to his training that they were able to move away in time.
The girl clung to his shirt as he repositioned them. It was too dangerous for them to stay here. Even if she was injured staying here only risked both of their lives.
To her, he said, "Listen I'm going to get us both out of here. We will both be just fine."
Her green yellow gaze met his own assessing the truthfulness of his statement. Then she nodded and he helped her stand. As they moved towards the fire escape he took note that she had a slight limp on her right side. Beyond that there were no other indications of an injury he could see.
At his instance she went down the fire escape first. Izuku watched over her progress from the window sill. The fight between Quake and the heroes was wrapping up. Despite the strength of his quirk Quake didnt have the stamina to keep up a long term fight.
The amount of time between major attacks was lengthening. The villain was most certainly exhausting himself. Good that would make for a clean capture. When he looked down again he saw that the girl had made it down safely.
Hiding his knife he started his own careful descent to street level. However with the last remnants of his strength Quake tried to force the heroes attention away from him to get away. The force of the shake was enough to dislodge Izuku's hold on the ladder. While only a second story drop it was unlikely to kill him but would still hurt like hell.
Just before he hit the ground however he felt a tugging on his clothes. Jeanist, just in time hero. It seemed Izuku owed the man another favor. He was caught in a pair of arms and safely lowered to his feet.
Tilting his head back he said, "It seems I owe you again, Best Jeanist. Thanks for catching me that would have hurt."
And Orion would have killed him for arriving injured. Again.
Jeanist replied with amusement glinting in his light green eyes, "You still owe me an explanation. However this is neither the time nor the place. I would leave while you can."
Izuku nodded before taking a step towards the exit of the alleyway. Then he stopped remembering why he was so late in getting out.
"That girl," Jeanist looked at him confusion marring his face, "The one with the pink hair. She was unable to escape with everyone else. Someone had her tied up in the back most apartment with tape over her mouth. It was by pure luck I heard her when I went for another sweep."
Jeanist nodded and said, "I'll look into it personally. Now get out of here before anyone gets suspicious."
With that Izuku faded into the crowds of people unaware of the golden eyes of another hero following his every move.
