Izuku, Kacchan, and Eiji-Kun left All Might's office to prepare for the impending mission. Eiji-Kun practically broke into a run when they stepped out of the professor's office. He disappeared around a corner headed to the locker room to get changed into his hero gear. Izuku and Kacchan did the same. By the time they had reached the locker room, Eiji-Kun had already suited up and was turning to leave.

"What took you two so long?" Eiji-Kun teased with a shark-toothed smile.

"The fuck were you runnin for?" Kacchan said with an exasperated sigh. "I ain't wasting all my energy before the mission even starts. 'S just plain stupid." Eiji-Kun laughed and shook his head.

"You do you, man; I'm just so pumped. I wanna get out there and save Todoroki!"

"Yeah!" Izuku said with a pump of his fist. "Let's get out there and kick some Villain butt!"

"That's what I'm talking about!" Eiji-Kun raised his hand to high-five Izuku. They clapped their hands together, earning a scoff from Kacchan.

"Get yer ass moving Deku. Can't go save 'em till ya get yer shitty suit on."

"Hey, I thought you liked my suit?" Izuku said, his voice trailing upward.

"Never said I didn't, nerd. Go on, move your ass." Kacchan gave him a light shove towards the lockers.

"You sure like talking about my ass today, huh, Kacchan?" Izuku said with a chuckle but then froze, his face running hot. He hadn't meant to say that. He didn't even know why he thought that. God, he was still just so confused from his memory, dream, thang earlier that it started bleeding over into his conscious thought. Izuku struggled to look over at Kacchan, half expecting the blond to be simmering with rage. Kacchan's face looked as red as his eyes, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.

"Kacchan, I… didn't mean…." Kacchan just shoved him again towards the lockers.

"Like I said, move your ass and get ready," Kacchan smirked and started walking towards his own locker. Izuku wasn't sure, but he thought he turned an even darker shade of red as he walked away.

"Well, I'll leave you two to… get ready," Eiji-Kun said with a smile, "I'm gonna meet yall back at the dorms." Eiji-Kun quickly walked out of the locker room, leaving him alone with Kacchan.

"What was that about?" Izuku said. He opened his locker quickly to block the view of the changing Kacchan.

"Who the fuck knows? Eiji's been a bit off since the trip to the hospital. I think it was just hard for him to see Mina like that…." Izuku could understand that, hell, it had been hard for him to see too.

"It's been hard for all of us, to be honest… I mean… You know how I've been reacting… I'm sorry I've been disturbing you so much these last few days." Izuku apologized. He tried not to have nightmares… He just couldn't help it sometimes. He just hated that it was interrupting his friend's sleep. He didn't want to be even more of a bother than he already was. Izuku pulled his suit out of the locker.

"Deku, did I ever say you were disturbing me?" Kacchan closed the locker. Red eyes met his.

"Uhh… No… At least, I don't think?" Kacchan turned back and continued to assemble his hero costume.

"Then fuckin stop worrying about it, nerd. If you were botherin me, I wouldn't give you the time of day. So stop worrying about it," Kacchan paused, zipped up his pants, and sighed. "Sides, I just wanna be there for you to help ya out." Izuku didn't know how to respond to that. Images from his dream that night flashed through his mind—the memory of soft, warm lips.

"Kacchan… Can… can I ask you about something?" Kacchan cocked his head as he fastened one of his gauntlets to his wrist.

"Shoot," Kacchan said, picking up the next gauntlet.

"Umm… ok… so, I've um. I've been starting to remember some of what happened." Kacchan stopped moving, set down the gauntlet, and stared Izuku in the eyes. "Last night, I had a dream. We were fighting Shiggaraki. I, uh, I think I got hurt? And I remember you…." Izuku stared down at his feet; he couldn't look at his friend. Not when he was about to ask about this. "You were holding me, And I think you…."

"Stop." Kacchan placed a hand on his shoulder. "We'll talk about this after the mission."

"But."

"Deku, please," Kacchan looked concerned. A frown replaced his signature scowl, but his typically fierce eyes had softened. Izuku couldn't help but notice how amazing Kacchan looked in his hero gear. "Can we talk about this when we get back from the mission?"

"But… there's something I want to ask you about."

"I know, De… Izuku," Kacchan was staring at him almost lovingly. "I'm pretty sure I know what you want to talk about. Listen, after IcyHot is safe, we'll sit down and have an actual conversation. Ok? Something like this… Something as important as this, I should say, deserves an unrushed conversation."

"You… you promise we'll talk?" It wasn't that Izuku didn't believe him. He was so nervous about the topic itself; he assumed Kacchan felt the same.

"I promise, nerd, now suit up. We gotta get going." Kacchan clipped on his last gauntlet, hoisted his duffle bag on his shoulder, and turned to leave the gym with a fluid motion.

"Deku," Kacchan called back, looking over his shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"I look forward to our talk," a smile spread across the blond's face before he turned and left. Something did summersaults in his ribcage as Izuku's heart raced in his chest. What did he mean by that? What could he be looking forward to? Did… did Kacchan feel the same way he did? Is that what he want's to tell him? Izuku's mind worked at a thousand miles a minute. He couldn't worry about this now. They had a job to do. A friend to save. Izuku pushed the thoughts out of his mind and pressed on. He dressed in his hero uniform and left the locker room.

Katsuki sucked in slow, steady breaths. He, Deku, and Eiji crouched behind the crumbled walls of what once was a steel manufacturing plant outside of Musutafu. The sun had just gone down. The area is illuminated only by the full moon's light above the cloudless sky. It was nearly time.

"Deku," Katsuki said barely louder than a whisper. "How much longer?" He heard shifting beside him as Deku leaned in closer, his warm breath on his ear as he spoke.

"He should pass by in about two more minutes; then we should be good to go." Katsuki nodded in understanding. Once the sentry passed, he was up—his metaphorical time to shine.

The three of them had been waiting in that rubble pile for most of the day. The purple-haired fuck's intel said that it seemed that the security was a lot laxer at night. Katsuki thought that it was bullshit, to be honest. Why would they lessen security during the night when it's more likely that someone would attack? But so far, it seemed to check out. Whereas the main entrance had two sentries posted outside of it all day, now that the sun had gone down, a single guard made rounds around the perimeter of the building.

Eiji leaned in and whispered, "It's pretty ballsy for them to be occupying this warehouse so openly. It's like they aren't even afraid of heroes coming to stop them." Katsuki sat back on his heels and placed his hands on his knees.

"They arent, Eiji. Who's even left that they'd have to watch out for? Pretty much anyone who could do anything's either dead or in a coma." Deku winced beside him, Katsuki felt a tightening in his chest. He needed to be more careful about what he brought up in conversation. He wanted to make the nerd feel better, not worse.

Eiji rubbed at the back of his neck before answering. "I guess that makes sense, still, seems a bit odd for them to be so open about it."

"I think it's intentional," Izuku spoke up for the first time in a while. "Think about it; they're trying to tell any would-be heroes that they aren't afraid of them. They're confident in their power that they don't need to hide. It's smart."

Katsuki scoffed, "It's stupid." He eyed Deku; the greenet met his gaze for a second before turning away. "It may be smart from the standpoint of deterring attacks, but if one does come," Katsuki gestured to the three of them, "It leaves you wide open." There was a murmuring consensus amongst Deku and Eiji.

Katsuki knew this wasn't going to be easy. He knew these villains wouldn't intentionally leave themselves defenseless. He knew that. But at the same time, he couldn't help but hope that maybe in their hubris, they had screwed up. That the villains had lowered their guard to the point where they could get in and out without anyone getting hurt. That they could save their friend without losing anyone else. Katsuki still couldn't shake the ominous feeling he had in the pit of his stomach.

The minutes passed by in a blur. Katsuki was lost in thought about the conversation he would have with Deku after the mission. He honestly didn't know how to breach the topic. He didn't know what his feelings for the nerd were. He just knew they needed to talk about them. It was his damn fault they needed to speak in the first place. In a fit of emotion and fear, he had kissed Deku that day on the battlefield. It had taken him nearly two months to process the events of that day. To come to terms with what that meant for him as a person. What that meant for them.

Katsuki was ripped out of his thoughts when Deku patted him on his arm. Katsuki looked at him and saw him pointing. He followed the nerd's gesture and saw the guard sauntering past the warehouse door. He nodded. They waited a few more seconds as the guard disappeared behind the wall. It was time.

Katuski pushed himself up off the floor and bolted for the warehouse. He kept low to the ground in case anyone happened to look by. He wanted to be as discrete as possible. As Katsuki ran, he heard the quiet shuffling of Deku and Eiji behind him.

He made it to the large steel door that blocked their way into the building ten seconds later. Katsuki grabbed the round doorknob and began heating it with his quirk. He did this by secreting tiny amounts of sweat and igniting it repeatedly. Not enough to cause an explosion, just enough to create massive amounts of heat. The knob started smoking and soon began to feel soft in his hands. Katsuki pushed as hard as he could, and the metal inside the door shifted with a soft clink. The bold had broken. He pushed again, and the door swung open silently. With a wave of his hand, he stepped into the warehouse, Deku and Eiji in tow. Now that they were in, the real mission started. They had to find IcyHot.

They had no idea where IcyHot would be located. Their intel had told him that he would be here until tomorrow. Just not where in the building itself he would be. That would be for them to find out. In a building this large… it would take a minor miracle for them to find their classmate without getting spotted.

Katsuki motioned for the two of them to follow him. They couldn't risk splitting up, not when communication wasn't ensured. They had coms for now, but from their own past experiences, they knew better than to assume that would always be the case. Even though splitting up would save time, they would search as a group. Katsuki wasn't going to let Deku out of his sight. Not again. He couldn't live with himself if he let something else happen to even a single frekel on that boy's body.

The warehouse was packed with towers of crates and boxes. It made the perfect environment to hide in. The three alternated between walking down aisles and climbing on top of shelves, and running on top.

They walked on for a few minutes before Katsuki thought he heard something. Voices were coming from another aisle over. He raised his hand and signaled for the others to stop. He waited.

"You goin home to see the kids this weekend?" A deep voice said.

"Nah, the wife left me. Took the kids with her. That bitch." A scratchy voice responded.

"Oh, I'm sorry, man, I didn't know."

"It's ok, fuck her, honestly. I just miss the kids, you know?"

"I get that, man, but hey, if this stuff works out with the big boss and all, you should be able just to waltz on over and take your kids back."

"Hey, I hadn't thought about that man. Thanks, that… that does help. Maybe I'll finally kill the bitch for what she did. That would just put a smile on my face." Katsuki grimaced. He made a mental note of having Sensei, and All Might look into who these individuals might be to get their families protection if necessary.

"Uh… I'm… I'm gonna check on the bastard downstairs. It's about time to change out the IV." The first villain said, turning to leave. "That lunatic will kill me if something happens to that runt he calls his brother." Deku inhaled behind him. Katsuki flashed him a look that said, 'Shut up, nerd, you'll get us caught.' Deku grimaced apologetically, and Katsuki looked back at the two villains.

"Well, give him a kick for me, will ya? Last I was down there, he froze my leg. I'm not sure if I'll ever get feeling back in my toes. I hate the fuckin bastard." The villain with the deep voice laughed and walked off without responding. It was now or never; Half n'Half was in the basement. If they could follow the first villain down, that would help shorten their search time drastically.

Katsuki moved silently through the shadows, his friends behind him. The villain strolled, whistling a tune as he sauntered down a staircase leading down into the dark. Katsuki followed suit.

It was dark, really dark. The only light came from a flashlight in the villain's hands. Katsuki figured that the power must not have been restored to this area. As a result, he felt his way down the stairs, keeping low if he tripped. He'll be damned if he trips and breaks his fuckin neck now. He kept close to Deku for similar reasons. He wasn't taking any chances with the nerd.

Time passed slowly as they followed the bouncing light of the villain until it stopped in front of a door. He unlocked the door with a click and stepped inside. A light appeared beside Katsuki; green lightning shimmered around Deku. The nerd ran ahead and disappeared inside the room. Katsuki and Eiji waited outside until Deku emerged with a wave of his hand. Katsuki and Eiji followed him into the room.

The villain they had been following was passed out on the ground. In the dim light of the flashlight he had picked up, Katsuki could see a large welt on the villain's head. Deku hadn't gone easy on him. Ignoring the bastard, Katsuki, Deku, and Eiji started searching the darkness for their friend.

With a quiet cry, Deku ran to the corner of the room and knelt beside what looked like a cot. Katsuki shined the flashlight on the object as he walked over, illuminating a body.

IcyHot lay unconscious on a metal stretcher. His arms, legs, and chest were strapped down to its frame. An IV stuck out of his arm, the bag nearly depleted. His once fit body was withered and emaciated. It looked like he hadn't moved in two months. Hell, he might not have. Atrophy had begun to take its toll, leaving their friend no better for wear than the coma patients in Musutaf General. His eyes were sunken into his skull. His skin was shockingly pale and loose on his weakened frame. He looked bad.

"Is he… is he in a coma too?" Eiji asked, voice no louder than a whisper.

"I don't think so," Deku replied. "The villain said that he froze his leg recently. He couldn't have done that if he were in a coma, right?" Deku had a point. Maybe they had gotten lucky. But that begged the question. Why was Scarface keeping IcyHot here? What did he want with the loser Katsuki would have to ponder that later, first, they needed to rescue their friend.

Eiji hardened his arm into what looked almost like a blade point and stabbed away at the restraints breaking them with minimal noise. Green lightning swirled around Deku. He removed the IV, hoisted IcyHot onto his shoulder with a nod, and walked towards the exit. The mission at this point was simple. Get out.

As fast as they dared, they left the room and ran down the hall, careful not to make much noise with their footsteps. The hallway was dark as they made their way through. Katsuki had elected to keep the flashlight off lest it attracted unwanted attention as they made their escape.

Eiji ran in front, ready to signal when they reached the stairs, Deku in the middle carrying Half n'Half, and Katsuki ran behind, watching their back. A soft thud from Shitty Hair signaled they were at the stairs in a matter of moments.

Katsuki's heart threatened to break out of his chest with each step they made up the stone stairs. They were so close; they were so close to finishing this mission. Each step was one step closer to his conversation with Deku. The thought of it frightened him nearly as much as it excited him.

Five seconds later, they made it to the top of the stairs; faint light provided a stark contrast to the basement's darkness. The warehouse was cast in the dull moonlight cascading through the broken windows. They turned and ran as fast as they could quietly towards the door they had come in. If they had timed things correctly, they would make it out before the sentry made his rounds again. They would be in and out with none the wiser.

They were 20 seconds from the door, his heart rate increased. 10 seconds. They were almost there! Five seconds and they'd be out of the damn building. Blue fire encircled them, and they came to a skidding halt. Flames shot up from the ground and reached near the ceiling. Katsuki had to shield his eyes from the blinding display.

"Where do you think you're going?" A figure asked through the flames.