Had they had access to someone with a healing quirk, Izuku and Stain would have been able to get back to work soon after the attack in Hosu but as they were, they were forced to stay in the same house for a good three months and a half. In that time, Izuku's shoulder and stomach did all the healing they could do and only the teen's side remained slightly raw in a few spots. The skin all over his body had odd lumps and grooves, but it wasn't anything that Izuku couldn't live with.
Much worse than the irregular scars all over his body was the fact that the skin that had healed seemed to have lost a good deal of elasticity, and now Izuku had to compensate for the lack of movement on one side of his torso. The teen was doing everything he could to take care of himself and bring his body back to its full potential, but he knew that things would never be quite the same. But that was fine.
In all truth, Izuku felt oddly optimistic about this whole process. Be it denial or simple hope, he believed that once he got better and got to training again, he'd be able to join Stain on his patrols as usual. His teacher was also a collage of wounds and scars and that didn't seem to hold him back in the slightest, so he tried not to worry more than necessary.
They were using their radio so much that they had to get a new pack of batteries and the news just kept coming. It was like Hosu had opened pandora's box, in a way, and every day there was something new.
The U.A had closed its doors until, in the least, their next semester and the principal and one teacher had resigned effective immediately. There was no way for the school to keep going if the principal stayed, so that made sense. But Izuku did wonder which teacher had left. Maybe Kacchan's own?
There were also rumors that a good number of students were reaching out to other schools looking for a transfer, and it was suspected that at least a third of the U.A's students would be gone before classes restarted. It was almost surreal to see the best hero school in all of Japan starting to crumble under the weight of the public opinion, but it was happening.
His mother and Kacchan's parents had also made a few public appearances, in which apparently they were gathering support and resources to flat out sue the U.A for what had happened in Hosu, and Iida's parents had apparently joined in to do the same.
Izuku wasn't completely sure about how he felt with Bakugo's and Iida's parents standing side by side with his own mother since in all reality he and Stain were the reason that the blonde had died. Maybe the other teen had confessed to his desire for revenge, but Izuku doubted that Kacchan had told anyone that he'd been looking for him specifically. Maybe the fact that Izuku was supposedly dead as well somehow made things even?
The only information available on the two surviving teens came from gossip channels and such, and apparently Iida had been transferred to a second hospital after his physical wounds had healed, and Izuku took notice that this new place was mostly known for its high-class psychiatric ward. It made sense, after everything that had happened, and Izuku honestly hoped that the other boy would reflect on himself and change for the better.
The other boy, Endeavor's own son, had been released from hospital after a few days and had gone home to his family. Apparently he hadn't been spotted in a good while and a leaked report said that Todoroki was one of the few that hadn't reached out to other hero schools yet. It was also said that the boy did not attend his own father's funeral, as he wasn't seen with his two siblings, but the reasons were unknown.
The rest of the U.A's staff was being scrutinized by everyone and every day some type of dirt would come out on at least one teacher. Their romantic affairs, shady family lives, addictions, and pasts were suddenly everyone's business and Izuku couldn't help but feel surprised. There was rarely anything truly bad said about them, but the public wanted them all to give official statements about everything.
Not even All Might, who had started to make less and less public appearances as time went on, was able to escape the crossfire. After all, if a student had died right where the hero worked, then who was safe anymore?
Stain seemed displeased with the last development, but he said nothing much on the matter.
And then there was the League. They soon became the talk of the town, especially since some people believed that Stain and Izuku had been part of their attack on Hosu. There were pictures of them everywhere, descriptions and speculations aplenty, but no one seemed to be able to find them.
They made a few small appearances while Izuku healed from his wounds, and it was clear that they intended to keep making small hits to make everyone nervous. And it was working.
Just in three months, they attacked a mall, two hero agencies, and two train stations. They got there, caused as much chaos as they could in a few minutes, and then left without a trace. Everyone was becoming paranoid.
"They seem more organized," Stain had commented at one point, but he kept the rest of his opinion to himself. He seemed reluctant to even give the League a nice thought, much less a proper compliment. But it was true, that they were far more direct and coordinated now than before in Hosu. Back there, all the villains had gotten caught eventually but now no one could come close to even capturing a single member of the League.
Izuku was just thinking about the League one afternoon while he looked through Stain's old clothes lazily. Most of his own clothes had been rendered unwearable after Hosu and Stain had suggested that maybe some of his old stuff would fit the teen.
"You sure?" Izuku had asked that afternoon, right before Stain headed out to get them some food.
"They're probably dusty as hell, but if something works for you then you can keep it."
"Thank you," The teen had said cheerfully walking past Stain and getting his hair slightly ruffled on the way. It was brief and Stain was gone before Izuku could think too much about it, but the kid smiled brightly.
Stain's old room was rather plain for what had been a fifteen-year-old. The walls were a light gray, the bed small, and the desk in the corner pretty much empty. There were almost no books, no pictures, no decorations, just the minimal things that one would need. The closet and the wardrobe were no different, most clothes simple and functional and only in a range of dark colors. All but one shirt that Izuku knew he just had to keep, the bright yellow fabric catching his eye immediately.
He tried on pants, shirts, sweaters, and even some fancier looking coats just to pass the time, moving slow to be able to change without upsetting the wound on his side. He didn't need a light source to see how the clothes looked, only caring about whether they were comfortable or not and putting back anything he didn't like in the dark. He was sure that the house had power (it had running water and gas, after all) but he didn't want to risk someone outside seeing the lights on in the otherwise abandoned house.
Stain had told him that he came back to the house ever so often to spend the night when he was traveling, so it was in their best interest to not alert the neighbors to their presence. Apparently most of the money that his parents had left him was used to pay for the house, but since he was never here then the bills were relatively cheap and the bank paid for them automatically every month.
It was weird to think that, if his mentor ever wished to, he could come back here and just start up a normal life without any issues. But Izuku couldn't imagine Stain ever wishing for something like that. It was just nice to have a little safe place for themselves.
The room was completely dark, just like it had been for hours, when Izuku put on a black hoodie over his yellow shirt. He'd taken a few changes of clothes and folded then on the bed to take them downstairs, putting everything else back where it belonged carefully. He shook his selected clothes vigorously to get the dust off, the clouds making him cough.
Fifteen years of dust is a lot of dust.
He took his new clothes in his arms, his old ones at the top of the pile, and he made his way downstairs quietly. He gave his old hoodie an almost tearful goodbye before he tossed it in the trash bag they had in the corner and then he settled down on the couch with the battery radio on his stomach.
He switched it on and listened to whatever random thing caught his attention, be it music or the news. The announcer of one of the stations informed Izuku that it was 11:34 pm, but Izuku didn't really pay it no mind.
It was 1 in the morning when Izuku hummed along to some tunes but he still didn't really worry.
It was 3:45 am when Izuku's stomach growled, the radio on the coffee table as Izuku's leg bounced up and down.
At 5:11, Izuku was peeking through the window of the house, noticing how the sky started to get the slightest bit lighter in color.
When the announcer finally told Izuku 'good morning!' at 7:30, the teen was pacing back and forth anxiously with the radio in his hands, changing from news channel to news channel.
He was outright panicking at this point. Stain had been gone for over twelve hours and there was nothing that would justify such a long time outside in their current situation. There were no targets, no patrolling, no nothing. He'd left for food for crying out loud, this wasn't normal.
Something was wrong and Izuku just knew it.
"Come on, come on," Izuku whispered, looking at the front door as if with will alone he'd be able to summon his mentor. But nothing happened so Izuku kept on pacing and pulling his hair, murmuring half baked excuses as to why Stain was taking so long.
Maybe he ran into some hero? Maybe someone recognized him? Maybe there'd been an accident somewhere? What was it, what could it even be?
He made his way into the kitchen, filled a glass with water, and downed it greedily before pouring another one. His hands were shaking and his breathing was labored, but he didn't want to have a panic attack when he didn't know if Stain was safe or not so he started to inhale and exhale slowly. His eyes were closed and most of his focus was on his emotions but that didn't keep him from hearing the noise in the living room.
He left the glass in the counter and bolted out of the kitchen, Stain's name on the tip of his tongue and relief flooding through his veins when-
"Pardon the intrusion, Midoriya Izuku," Came the deep voice, a portal of black smoke blocking the entrance to the house and a pair of yellow eyes looking right at him, "But it is imperative that you come with us."
Fuck.
Izuku could see his knife on the coffee table, just a few feet away from him, and he dived in to get it. Just as he stretched his hand to take it though, a small blade struck the table and forced Izuku to move his arm to the side. The blade still cut him a bit and the sight of blood was followed by a high pitched giggle.
"You're even cuter up close, Midoriya-kun!"
A girl about Izuku's age stepped out of the portal, a set of small blades held between her fingers. She was smiling widely and Izuku immediately got an off feeling about her. She was followed by another two figures, a young man with scarred skin stapled to his face and another man with green scales and pink hair.
Izuku examined all of them, the portal shrinking into the shape of a man, and he was very aware that he was grossly outnumbered and unarmed.
"What do you want?" Izuku asked carefully.
"We came to pick you up!" the girl answered cheerfully and Izuku narrowed his eyes.
"How did you find this place?"
"The communication device we gave you serves as a tracker," The one with dark hair answered, his voice a gentle monotone, "but we've been keeping an eye on you regardless."
"Come on, we have to go!" The girl added, motioning for Izuku to come towards them. But the teen wasn't moving even an inch, his mind going a mile a second to come up with some sort of plan. Was Stain not here because the League had taken him earlier?
"Where's Stain?" Izuku asked and this time it was the reptile looking man that answered.
"He got caught hours ago. The police are on their way here right now to get you as well."
Izuku drew a blank, his body tensing on its own.
"What?" Izuku half-whispered. No. No, that couldn't be it. That wasn't possible. Was it?
"Scratch that, they're here." The other man said, his bright blue eyes peeking through a tiny space between the curtains, "We gotta go."
"Come on!" The girl beckoned, the portal once again opening behind her. She was happy beyond belief, her cheeks flushed and her eyes squinting in enjoyment.
But Izuku felt like he was rooted to the spot, his mind unable to process the information he'd just been told. If Stain were to be caught then that would be all over the news, right? He was the Hero Killer, everyone knew him.
Unless they didn't want you to run as soon as you heard, Izuku thought bitterly. Had he been sitting in this house while his mentor got ambushed and captured?
"Midoriya Izuku, you have to come with us," the portal spoke with a hint of urgency, the girl bouncing on her feet and the pink-haired individual joining the other man by the window.
"Why?" Izuku asked, now vaguely aware of a noise coming from the roof of the house. Was that the police? Heroes? They were running out of time and even he knew that.
"You wanna get arrested?" The one with the patches of dark skin asked, making his way towards the front door casually.
"Stain would be angry if we let you get caught," The reptile added, his eyes flashing as he reached behind his back to take a hold of the large item between his shoulders. A weapon, no doubt.
Izuku was just about to speak, but just then he heard footsteps upstairs. They were out of time, but the League looked anything but frazzled. The girl even looked excited. The first to move was the one with the monotone, as he simply cracked open the door and let out a wall of blue fire big enough to engulf the whole front yard and even part of the street. Izuku flinched at the raw power.
Next, the girl and the green-skinned man jumped forward, the girl grabbing Izuku by the arm and the man crushing the wall that led to the stairs with a ridiculous bouquet of swords and knives. The wall was blasted to smithereens and the officers on the other side were all sent flying. This was followed by a blast of blue flames and Izuku could hear people screaming horribly.
"Let's go!" The girl told Izuku happily, all but clinging to his side as the ground beneath them seemed to disappear. They sank onto the floor, a black portal under them, and Izuku briefly noticed that the rest of the League seemed to be disappearing in a similar fashion. He thought about the house, about his things, Stain's own things, but the ground had swallowed him before he could say anything.
The feeling of being warped was brief but unsettling, the air feeling cold and thick. But the ground was back under his feet after a second and Izuku took a panicked look around himself. He was in a bar, it would seem, the wooden interior giving it a fancy look. There were even more people in here and he immediately recognized the pale blue hair of the person sitting at the bar. Well, he recognized the hair and the multitude of hands on his body.
Speaking of hands, the girl from before was still clinging to Izuku's side like he was a teddy bear and Izuku blushed slightly even in these circumstances.
"How did it go?" The man at the bar asked, his attention on a card pyramid he was currently finishing.
"The police got there just as we did but they couldn't do anything." The reptile answered, the assortment of blades still in his hand.
"We got Midoriya!" The girl chimed in eagerly, shaking Izuku around in her arms.
"That's him? He's a lot smaller than I thought he would be! It's a pleasure to meet you!" One of the new figures said, his masked face offering no information about how he looked. Besides him, there were another four people in the bar, most of them looking at Izuku curiously from where they were.
"I'm sure they told you, but Stain has been captured." The man at the bar said, his red eyes gleaming from behind the hand covering his face. As if to reinforce his point, the TV behind him turned on.
Izuku took a few steps forward, the girl next to him letting him go but staying close. The news were reporting about the arrest of the Hero Killer and Izuku almost felt his knees buckling under him. They were also telling people to call the authorities if they saw Izuku, but that wasn't what got him.
He could see the video of Stain in quirk-suppressing bindings, his hair down, and part of his clothes covered in blood. Was it his own? Was he hurt? Apparently a team of pro heroes, including Hawks, Best Jeanist, and Edgeshot had taken part in the ambush to finally capture the Hero Killer. They were calling Stain by his real name now.
This isn't happening, Izuku thought, his mind spinning. He ran his hand through his hair and he realized he was shaking.
"He got ambushed, but they kept it silent while they investigated who he was. Once they had his name they found the house. They expected to get you all alone." The lizard person said, a clear tone of anger in his voice. When Izuku looked at him he saw a frustration with which he identified. Just then he noticed that this other man was pretty much wearing a copy of Stain's own clothes, bandana and all.
"There were nine heroes involved in his arrest," one of the new people, one with a mask and a top hat, added, "As impressive as the Hero Killer's abilities are, there was no way for him to win against so many pros. They hurt him pretty bad just to make sure he wouldn't escape later on."
Izuku let out a shaky breath. He felt faint.
He didn't notice that the leader of the League was looking at him until he spoke.
"So, what are you going to do?"
"I have to go rescue him," Izuku answered without a second thought, getting a nod from the reptile.
"All by yourself?" The leader asked, leaning back on the bar, "You don't even know where he is. And he'd probably be surrounded by heroes. If you make even the tiniest mistake then it's game over."
"I can't just…" Izuku clenched his fists with an absurd sense of determination filling him, "I have to. He'd do the same for me."
The man smiled behind his mask and he leaned forward to look at Izuku in the eye.
"I have a deal for you, kid."
Izuku narrowed his eyes, aware that he was being watched by every single person in the room. He remembered what Stain had told him after he met the League the first time, that these people were scum and deserved to be eliminated just as much as the pro heroes they targeted. He had to be careful.
"It is in our best interest to keep Stain out of jail for now and a few of my allies are willing to lend you their aid in rescuing your mentor." At that, the three people that had gone to help Izuku earlier stepped forward, all of them nodding briefly. The other four stayed where they were and the portal man remained behind the bar.
"If you joined us, you'd get the help you need."
"You said our best interest. What do you get out of it?" Izuku asked cautiously. It seemed too good to be true, but now the fact that they had gone to help him escape from the police made sense. They wanted something from him.
"We get the Hero Killer on our side, for one," the man answered, his tone both serious and relaxed somehow, "And if his apprentice joins our organization then more people are sure to come."
"Is that it?" Izuku asked.
"For now, yes," the other answered with a wicked smile and Izuku immediately wanted to say no. Stain didn't want anything to do with the League of Villains, Izuku knew that perfectly. And it seemed that, if Izuku joined, he'd be signing a pact with the devil. They might never let him go. He didn't know what the villains' purpose was in the long run, but he knew that they liked harming innocents and he didn't like that.
Everyone around him had been a part of the recent attacks in public places and he knew that Stain frowned upon those.
But this man was right. There was no way Izuku would be able to save Stain on his own. He didn't know where the man was or how big the window of time to rescue him would be. He couldn't waste any time in trying to figure out where Stain was and he needed a plan. He needed help, like it or not.
Izuku stared the man down, trying to channel Stain to figure out what his mentor would do.
"What's your objective?" Izuku finally asked, "what do you want to accomplish with the League of Villains?"
The man hummed, looking at the people in the room for a second before answering slowly. His voice had this tired quality to it like he hadn't slept in days.
"Depends on who here you ask."
Izuku looked at the people around him. Three of the four people that he didn't know yet were looking at him, the fourth one rocking back and forth very gently in his seat, and they all looked willing to answer questions. But that wouldn't do.
"You're the leader, right? I'm asking you." Izuku narrowed his eyes, his stance tense.
"I want to expose how fragile the current idea of 'justice' is. It's annoying how everyone smiles because they think heroes will save them all. I want to prove them wrong. I want a world where All Might's smile fades." The man smiled, shrugging with one shoulder.
Izuku stared at him for a long moment but the man's smile didn't falter. Could it be that the League's conviction tied back to All Might? Did they really want to accomplish something?
"And then? After you do that?"
"We build anew. We come out of the shadows and we finally get to live." Came the response and the rest of the League focused their eyes on their leader. It wasn't hard to see that they all agreed with the sentiment to some extent and Izuku could only wonder what had brought all of these people together. Did they all really feel like they had to fight the system to be seen?
Well, that sounds familiar, Izuku thought briefly. The three people that had gone to save him, the ones that were willing to help him get Stain back, were all young-looking. None of them could be over twenty-five, and the girl, in particular, seemed to be about Izuku's age. He wondered if the four of them had anything else in common, but shook his head to focus.
What would Stain think? Would he approve of the League's new apparent conviction? The similarity between what they were doing was there, but the outcome was different.
Stain wanted people to notice that heroism should never be done to get a monetary gain, but the league wanted the whole system to collapse so people like them could step into the light. Were they doing it for themselves or for the people that were like them? Were they fighting for the ones that couldn't? Would they ever stop destroying the world around them? Was there such a thing as satisfaction for the man in front of him?
"So?" The man asked expectantly, "We're wasting time here. Are you joining or not?"
Izuku glanced at the people around him. He could see the anticipation and even excitement in the eyes looking back at him, but he was still hesitant.
If he tied himself down to the League, Stain would be angry for sure. Could he even agree to a deal without Stain's consent? For all he knew, his mentor would just say he didn't agree to be a part of the organization and then Izuku had no idea what could happen. He couldn't see Stain following a single order given by the blue-haired man and he could already see someone dying in this very bar a few days from now.
But then, was he just supposed to let Stain end up in Tartarus or in death row? He didn't know which one was worse and he felt his hands shaking slightly. What would Stain prefer? Would he rather go down and never be able to act upon his beliefs again or would he prefer acting with people he didn't like or agree with?
What was he supposed to do?
"What happens if I join? Will you help Stain get back to what he was doing?"
"We won't intervene with his work, as long as he stays with us. He'll have to help with some things, but that's expected from a partnership, right?" The man said while the girl next to Izuku squealed in delight. She had a lot of energy, didn't she?
Izuku bit his lip hard, his eyes going from the ground to the people around him. He had to make a choice. He thought about his mentor spending the rest of his days in a tiny cell and he suddenly knew what he was going to answer. Stain might hate him for it, but he just had to.
"Fine. I'm in."
The girl jumped towards Izuku and wrapped him in a tight embrace, the other members looking rather pleased with the response. The teen found himself blushing again at how close this girl was, but he tried to keep his composure. The leader of the group smiled widely.
"It's a deal then. Before you get to play hero, though, you have to help us with a little mission."
"What about Stain?" Izuku asked gravely, but the man just waved him off. The man behind the bar answered for him.
"We have the Hero Killer located. After the ambush, he was taken to a hospital to take care of his wounds before he's taken to Tartarus. His injuries are severe enough to warrant a week-long stay in the hospital, so we have time to plan things before we go get him."
He's hurt, Izuku thought bitterly. He just wanted his teacher back.
"Besides, we have to make sure that you're a good addition to our ranks. Your teacher was rather rude the last time he was here, so I have to make sure we can trust you," the leader said, giving Izuku a somewhat distrusting look. It was fair since Stain had stabbed the man during their first meeting, but Izuku wasn't happy about it. He had to prove himself?
"What's the mission, then?" Izuku asked and the leader took a small picture from the bar and showed it to the teen. He knew the person in the photo.
"We want you to help us kidnap Todoroki Shoto."