Getting back home had been far easier than Izuku expected. Apparently, there was a bus that passed by every half an hour, and from there he just had to walk for twenty minutes before he was at his doorstep. Convincing his mother that he had actually been at the children's hospital was by far more challenging.

"I… Well, when I got there they offered to show me around and they were so kind that I just couldn't say no. And you know it's a biiiiig hospital, so that took a while, and then they… Uh, showed me the room where they have all the toys for the kids to play with and what do you know, there were a bunch of kids! And they all got so excited about what I brought and they begged me to play with them, and I just couldn't say no! So I played with all of the kids, and man they really didn't want me to leave until the last possible second, and then when the kids went to bed, well, I just had to help the staff pick up all of the toys and organize all of the new ones and… Oh, my phone? Ah, I… I left it here! Yeah, I didn't notice until I was already there, and they were giving me the tour and it would have been rude to just bolt out… Right?"

Izuku wasn't used to lying to his mother which was the reason she believed him in the first place. She asked some questions but in general, seemed rather happy that her son was not only in a better mood but on the road to getting over his "fantasies".

When he finally found himself alone in his room, he heaved a long sigh and let himself slide down the wall. These last couple hours felt like they had lasted weeks and his mind was still buzzing. Had he really just met his biggest hero and one of the most infamous villains in Japan all in the span of a few days?

Scratch meeting his hero, had he really picked a fight with a serial killer?

"You're an idiot, you Deku." He whispered to himself.

Izuku opened his backpack and searched for the last notebook in his collection, eyeing it with a warry expression. He had been unable to burn the 13 small books after his meeting with the Hero Killer and had brought them back home with him. He was unsure as to whether that was a good decision or not, but it felt… well, not wrong, thus far.

He opened the thin pad right around the middle and read through some of his last notes, non of the info really sticking in his brain at the time. He kept thinking back to the villain in the alley, with his bloody katana and dark clothing, looking about ready to take down every single hero at the same time if needed. He remembered the way he had acted, letting Izuku go, and the way he had spoken with evident conviction.

" You don't want to be like them."

That phrase played on a loop in the boy's mind, the voice clear as water. With the lights in his room still off, Izuku picked himself up and sat down in front of his computer. The screen shone bright in the dark, his usual All Might screen saver greeting him. He clicked on his internet browser and clicked on the "news" tab, not sure if he was going to like what he could find. But he was curious. The villain had left an odd feeling inside the kid and he needed to know more.

The first two pages were unrelated and when he spotted the first article about himself, he quickly typed "Hero Killer" and searched directly for that. He was greeted by a barrage of articles, videos, blurry pictures, theories, and police reports. He clicked on one of the first images he found and felt a small chill run down his spine.

The photo was pixelated and slightly out of focus, but he knew this was the man he'd run into just a few hours ago. His katana and white mask, the blood-red bandana and scarf, the slight hunch of his shoulders. Everything matched.

"The Hero Killer, as the media has named him, last attacked in Sapporo two months ago, adding another five victims to his past 17. With these, his total death count rises to 12, the other 10 victims having retired from their hero careers due to their extensive injuries," Deku read, murmuring the words low, "Nothing is yet known about the villain's identity and it is advised against engaging with him if spotted."

Izuku winced a bit at the last part, noting that he had a real knack for going against what authorities said. Maybe he really was "irresponsible" after all.

Pen in hand, Izuku read article after article, watched video after video, and took notes until he ran out of pages on his 13th notebook. Once again time had escaped him without his knowledge and he noticed with a small grunt that his alarm was going to start ringing in less than an hour.

Today would be a long day.

"Izuku, are you sure? You didn't pack any extra food!" His mother said over the phone. Izuku shifted his weight on his feet. "How many days are you going to keep taking these tutoring sessions? You get home so late…"

"I know mom, but there's a test coming up and my teacher wants to make sure I'm all caught up on everything they covered while I was… Away." Izuku said, carefully avoiding the word "hospital" when speaking to his mother.

"But you were only gone for three days! What could they have learned in such little time?"

"You'd be surprised, mom," He gave a small awkward laugh. He spotted his bus nearing and hurriedly added "Well, I gotta go! Love you, mom!" Izuku hung up before the roar of the bus' engine could be heard over the other side of the line. He boarded the transport and took a seat next to a window, sighing in relief.

He wasn't sure just for how long he'd be able to make the whole "tutoring" sham last with his mother but in case of emergency he'd come up with something else. He'd cross that bridge when he got to it, right? He ran a hand down his face tiredly and tried to suppress a yawn. He'd been sneaking out for the last four days and it was proving to be more difficult than he thought.

Well, "sneaking out" was not the right term. He'd been taking the same bus every day right after class, wandering the alleyways where he'd burned his drawings and going back home only after sunset. So technically he wasn't sneaking out of his house, right? Right. If he said it enough, he might believe it eventually.

But there was no way he could even begin to explain where he'd been spending his afternoons since Monday. What was he even supposed to say? "Oh yeah, by the way, I came face to face with the Hero Killer last week and I've been going back to the same general area to see if I can run into him again. No biggie."

He'd probably get sent right back to a hospital.

He sighed. That wasn't it, though. It wasn't because he couldn't explain it to others, but because he couldn't explain it to himself in the first place. There was no rational reason to want to see this man again. The fact that he let Izuku go once didn't equal to the same thing happening twice. For all he knew, the moment they ran into each other again, the villain would kill him without a second thought. This man was extremely dangerous, powerful, and merciless. And still…

Izuku looked out the window, watching the city pass him by. He wasn't sure what to think. All he knew was that he wanted the chance to see him again and speak to him. Their last encounter had left him with a thousand questions and with an odd -though not unwelcome- feeling in the pit of his stomach. He wasn't even able to pay attention in class, earning him odd looks every time he answered one of their teacher's questions wrong. Even Kacchan seemed to have noticed.

Izuku got to his feet, ready to get off on the now-familiar stop. Maybe if he managed to talk to the Hero Killer, this odd feeling would go away and leave him alone. Yes, that must be it.

Deku thanked the driver with a wave and got off the bus, walking in the usual direction and past a pro hero on patrol. He tried not to make any eye contact with the other and walked by quickly. Ever since the Hero Killer's last attack there had been an increasing number of low-class heroes hanging around the area. Thankfully none of them paid Izuku any mind.

He passed the usual konbini and headed down the usual ally a few blocks later.

This whole ordeal was "usual" by now, and he wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

"Well, if it isn't Mr. Midoriya once more!" Called out one of the men in the alley, huddled next to the fire.

"You're late today kid!" One of the others joked, making Izuku blush and laugh nervously.

"There was an accident on the way here and the bus had to take a detour."

"See?" Said the oldest man, nodding knowingly, "I told you he'd be here today, too."

"Yeah, you were right, old man." Laughed on of the others, a man with long dark hair and a bushy beard.

Izuku gave them all a warm smile and passed by them with a small bow.

"You ever gonna tell us what on earth you're doing out here, kid?"

Izuku blushed again. As much as he trusted these four (and he did, for what it was worth) he couldn't really explain what he was doing in this part of town. They'd warned him about the attack last week where a hero had been left in a coma but Izuku had politely told them that it was ok. That he was being extra careful.

Yeah. Suuuure.

The men bid Izuku goodbye as they always did and he headed down the familiar back streets with ease. His red shoes made crunching sounds every time he stepped on broken glass (which was often) and his feet quickly carried him to where he'd lit his little fire days ago. The dumpster was still pushed further towards the back and the bloodstain next to it was still visible, even if now it was a dull brown color. The hero that was attacked had been found a few blocks from there and so the area wasn't closed off.

The teen placed his backpack on a random crate and pulled out a few pages. They were printed close-ups of the area from a random map he'd found online, one spot circled in red and some adjacent alleys colored blue. He'd printed the map on Monday right before leaving school and had marked the places he had already walked in these past four days.

He hummed, rotating the map in his hands and analyzing it carefully. The red circle marked where he was, the place where he always started his search. He had read that the Hero Killer had a tendency to strike in secluded spots at any time of the day or night. Now that this area was filled with dozens of lonely heroes it would be a waste for the killer to leave so soon, so Izuku assumed that there would be at least one more attack here before the villain moved on to another part of the city. If he wanted to find him, he only had a few days maximum before his next attack.

Izuku picked a road he hadn't been to and traced a route that would bring him back a more familiar alley once the night had arrived. His daily patrols lasted about four hours, just enough time to make his mother believe that he had been in school all along and only left when the teachers did so as well. She was unhappy with the hour at which Izuku got home but he did his best to act like he had been studying diligently and she believed him.

He felt a tad bit guilty about it, to be honest.

The boy shook his head and zipped up his backpack, heading off into the darkened alleyways before he could dwell on his feelings any longer. This would be over as soon as he could find the Hero Killer and then he wouldn't have to feel bad about lying anymore. He just needed a little luck on his side and this would end.

Izuku walked for about two hours, crossing paths with two random heroes before he stopped for a break. He sat down on a sturdy looking crate and pulled out his school homework. Keeping up with his schoolwork kept him up at night for hours, but at least he could get some of it done in his brakes and during the bus ride back home. If his teachers were to call home to tell his mom that was slacking off, the whole charade would come crashing down monumentally.

He wasn't as tired as he'd been the first day, although his legs still ached. Maybe when he went back to his normal routine he would keep walking around his neighborhood. It was nice and it relaxed him.

Izuku was halfway through an essay about the history of quirks when the sound of breaking glass filled the air around him. He looked up, waiting to see if something else happened. More than once he had started running towards what ended up being a smashed glass bottle and he wanted to avoid the false alarms if he could. For a few seconds, it seemed like that was that, but the sound of something big getting destroyed got him on his feet.

He ran in the direction of the commotion, weaving through tight alleys and jumping over a multitude of boxes and bags as fast as he could. His backpack threatened to get stuck on a piece of metal and Izuku pulled as hard as he could, not even thinking about the fact that the bag could rip. He was focused on where the sound had come from, waiting for another noise. The sound of metal hitting metal finally took him to the right place, and he stopped running the moment he saw the red scarf and the black hair.

He'd done it. He'd actually done it! All by himself, he'd located th-

A small blade flying through the air and whizzing right by his head stopped his thoughts dry. The man he'd been looking for was staring right at him, arm extended in his direction after throwing one of his many knives at Izuku. They were over 20 feet apart, but the wetness he felt running down his cheek told him just how close the throw had come to hitting him square in the face.

"It's you again." The man stated simply, turning back towards the other man on the ground. Another hero, this one with blood all over his chest and a long, serrated knife poking out of his ribcage like a flower on the sidewalk. Izuku swallowed. This wasn't like last time. This man was dead already.

The weight of all his recent choices came crashing down on him and, had he been able to travel back in time, he would have slapped himself as hard as he could.

He'd found the Hero Killer, all right. But now he had no idea what to do. Did he even think he'd make it this far? No. Not in a million years. He never really thought he'd look at those red eyes ever again but here he was, shaking like an idiot in front of a very, very dangerous villain.

"You either have really bad luck or you're very stupid," started the man, leaning down to pluck his knife from the hero's corpse. "So, which one is it, kid?" Their eyes met again.

"Oh, I'm incredibly stupid." He was tempted to answer, "I have no idea why I did this and I want to go home, Mr. Hero Killer."

He muttered something that not even he could understand and the man blinked impatiently. "Speak up, brat."

Izuku was attempting to form a coherent thought when a voice came from the opposite side of the alley. The next few moments were a blur. The Hero Killer was right in front of him one second, and he was dragging him up a fire escape and onto a roof the next. Izuku could feel an arm around his chest and the cold blade of a knife on his neck before he was sure what had happened.

"Don't even think about making a sound."

Izuku's eyes were wide in fear and confusion. How fast was this man? Was that his quirk? It would explain how he had managed to escape every crime scene before anyone could arrive. But the area was crawling with heroes and someone other than Izuku had heard the fight. He couldn't see anything, but he could hear two voices down where they had been seconds ago. They sounded like heroes, one screaming "He can't be far!" and the other mentioning backup. Izuku could hear them moving around down there, and for half a second he wished someone had seen them go up towards the roof.

But luck was rarely on his side.

He heard the man holding him make a frustrated noise before pressing the knife even harder on Izuku's neck.

"Don't be stupid, now. You scream and I'll drop you."

"Drop me!?" The boy thought in a panic. Izuku's eyes threatened to fall out of his face as the villain picked him up like luggage and set off running to the edge of the roof. He jumped gracefully towards the next rooftop, landing silent as a cat and continuing towards the next platform. Izuku closed his eyes as tight as he could, focusing so hard on not getting sick that he didn't even notice that the knife on his neck was gone.

For all he knew, Izuku passed out at some point. They seemed to stop moving all too suddenly after having jumped for about fifteen minutes and he had never been happier than when the man let him go and he fell on the sweet, sweet ground.

Izuku took one deep breath after the other, opening his eyes and looking around. They were currently indoors, in a space that looked abandoned, and the Hero Killer was towering over him.

"W-where are we?" Izuku managed to ask through ragged breaths.

"Far enough that they won't find us."

"I…" Izuku did not like the sound of that us, "you killed that hero."

"Don't flatter him" The man answered, narrowing his eyes "That was no hero."

Izuku wasn't sure if this man was joking (oh please, like a killer would joke around) but he was unsure of what to say. They both stared at each other for a long moment before the villain asked "You hurt?"

"N-no, I'm fine."

"Then you can find your way back home by yourself."

The man had already turned around and was walking away. No. NO. Izuku hadn't just risked his life to stay on the ground and watch him walk away. But what was he supposed to do? Why would he even stay for a kid that had nothing to do with him? But he was already reaching for the door that led to the roof and he was about to leave.

Do something!

"Wait!" Izuku tried, scrambling to his feet as fast as he could "Please, wait!"

The man stopped, hand on the door.

"What do you want, kid?"

"I… I wanted t-to talk with you…" Izuku was blushing like an idiot, trying really hard not to follow his instincts to shut up and run away.

The Hero Killer didn't move for a moment before he turned his head and looked at Izuku with an unreadable expression.

"You want to talk ?" He sounded almost sarcastic, but Izuku took the chance.

"Yes! I… Yes, I wanted to talk to you."

Izuku forced himself to keep eye contact, standing as tall as he could and picking on his cast nervously. They stayed like that for a long time, just looking at one another. It was like they were both waiting for the other to give in first. The man closed his eyes and turned fully towards Izuku, pressing his back against the door and crossing his arms.

"Go on, then." He said "Talk."

Oh God, this was actually happening. He was actually listening. Now what? What was he supposed to say first? He had so many questions, so many thoughts running through his mind.

"I don't have all day." The man spat, glaring at Izuku.

Here it goes. All or nothing. The teen swallowed, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"I want to know why you let me go the other night."

"That's it?" The man's eyebrow raised and Izuku felt his face burning even more.

"No, I-"

"You're just a child," the villain interrupted, not a hint of amusement in his tone. "It serves no purpose to kill you."

"I… but…"

"You're wasting my time." He looked about ready to leave, "Go home."

"No!" the yell echoed in the empty space and Izuku, for once, didn't hear any fear in his own voice. Only frustration. The other figure looked at him with an odd expression, like he was torn between bored and annoyed, but he stayed where he was. "I want to know why you told me what you did, about me not wanting to be like the hero you killed. I want to know why you're doing all of this."

The following silence was long. The man in front of him looked the teen up and down with great consideration and Izuku could feel his resolve cracking with every passing second. Had he stepped over the line? Was he going to die in this abandoned building in the middle of who-knows-where? When would they even find his body? What w-

"Why would you want to know any of that?" The dry voice cut his train of thought. "Shouldn't you be glad that you got away unharmed and move on with your life?"

Izuku shook his head, thinking hard. He couldn't afford to say something wrong now. "I just… I want to understand."

"Why?"

"...I'm not sure. But I feel like what you told me was important. Like I need to understand what you meant or nothing will ever change in my life. Nothing will ever change in me. "

There was another long silence. This time it was much easier to maintain eye contact with the dangerous individual feet away from him. Izuku could feel something warm in the pit of his stomach and he knew that no matter what, he would not back down now. The man rubbed his chin, thoughtful.

"You really don't know when to pick a fight, do you?"

"No."

The man chuckled and Izuku was suddenly very self-aware. The man allowed himself to relax, crossing one foot over the other, and stared at the kid in front of him with less annoyance.

"There was no need to kill you that night. Or today, for that matter. Because you're nothing like my targets."

"Heroes?"

"None of the people that I've targeted are deserving of being called that. Every single one of them had been part of a plague that's been spreading throughout the years right under everyone's noses. No, that's not quite right. They grew in number right in front of everyone, getting adoration and praise while they corrupted the whole system with their fake shows of charity. And even now they get put on a pedestal, like gods."

Izuku listened in silence.

"This society is rotten to the core, and everyone is fine with that. Everyone is perfectly willing to call an imposter "hero" just because they show up every once in a while to use their flashy quirk in public. They have everything, money, fame, social standing. Even if they lose a fight, even if innocents die while under their care, they don't lose much. They just cry for the camera and get paid regardless. None of them are risking anything, so none of them are sacrificing anything. That makes them weak. And those who are weak, those who fake their way into a position of power, have to be purged."

"You don't think a single one of them truly wants to help?" Izuku asked when he knew he wouldn't interrupt the other man.

"If they truly just wanted to help, they would do just that. They wouldn't brag, they wouldn't have the need to get their name out there. They wouldn't care about being recognized. But what do they do? They show up on commercials, they put out products with their faces plastered on them to make a quick buck off of the people that don't know any better. They never take a second to reflect upon themselves, they only use their power for their own benefit. A real hero would do what has to be done and feel glad that they simply managed to help."

Izuku could feel his knees buckling under him, but he managed to say on his feet somehow. The Hero Killer gave him a curious look and said nothing, either waiting for the teen to process all the information or not really caring about how he felt. Izuku felt his eyes watering, and the other man scoffed.

"If you couldn't take it, you shouldn't have asked."

But Izuku's mind was somewhere else. Memories flashed before his eyes like lightning, making him dizzy. He could see his classmates, his mother, every hero he had ever seen in his life, all of them combining into one terrible cacophony of light and sound.

"You're just a quirkless nobody"

"You can't be a hero."

"Izuku, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"You were so reckless! You have no quirk to fight!"

"Leave the fighting to the real heroes."

"Stop dreaming, Deku."

Everything hit him at once and finally, his legs gave out.

It became clear in that moment, that every voice that he had ever heard put him down had come from someone that was aiming to be a hero in the future, or was already there. Every single time he'd been beaten, told off, looked down upon, it had been by the very people that would be called "heroes" in a few years. They would get bright futures in the spotlight, everyone would love them and everyone would forget about the quirkless punching bag they had abused for years.

None of it was fair, or just. No one had ever cared about where Iziku's heart was, about his intentions. They had only seen a useless kid and had all given up on him. Was he supposed to just forget about all that and cheer for the people that had made his life hell for years? Was he supposed to look at those people and see anything but hypocrites?

No. He couldn't.

The Hero Killer looked at Izuku while he sobbed, a calculated look in his eyes. He straightened and turned for the door, pushing it open with a sigh. "If you would prefer to hold on to your empty beliefs simply because they're easier to live with, then I have nothing else to tell you, kid. I told you n-"

"You're right."

It was a hoarse whisper, filled with so much raw emotion that the villain turned back around to stare at the child weeping on the ground in surprise.

"Everything you said… Every person I've ever met, all of them… They've never cared about anything other than their own happiness, have they?" Green, desperate eyes met with bright red ones "They've all just had their fun putting me down before they start their hero careers. Before the world is actually looking at them. But none of them care, do they!? They never cared about doing anything good! And I'm just supposed to look up to them later on?! "

Izuku's voice broke, sobs wracking his body. He finally understood. It all made sense. This man, this serial killer standing over him was right, wasn't he? His mind had just collapsed on itself, and his soul was dying. He was dying. He could feel it in his chest, the way his heart wanted to give up and just stop beating. He's crying so much that he didn't even know if the other man had left or not, but he didn't have the strength to look up.

"Listen to me, Midoriya Izuku." Came the deep, booming voice. Izuku gasped like he had been holding his breath for minutes "Now that you've realized the truth, there's no need for you to pretend anymore. You don't have to lower your head while they stomp over you. You can act, now. You can finally be better than all the ones that think they have any right over you. Because that power is fake, it means nothing to you, now. You can actually see what a real hero is meant to be like, quirk, or no quirk. And that gives you the chance to do something about it."

Izuku let out another sob, absorbing every word like it was water in the desert. The voice speaking to him felt like an anchor in the darkness, and he could see nothing beyond the man looming over him.

"I don't know what to do! How am I supposed to do something on my own?!"

"The same way I did, kid" Izuku looked up, eyes frantic and desperate. Right in front of his face, the infamous Hero Killer had his hand outstretched towards him. His eyes shone in the darkness, bright red burning passionately. "With your own will and strength."

Izuku reached for the hand offered to him, grasping it like a lifeline and feeling something rising in his chest for the first time in weeks: Hope.