'...Straw Hat... Luffy?'

Deku blinked at the older teen in front of him, mind whirling as he went through his memory and tried to recall pro-hero who went by that name. He was also desperately trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his arm.

As if Luffy could read him mind, he cocked his head to the side and glanced down at Deku's shattered limb. "That looks bad; you haven't had it long, have you? Your strength."

There was no pity or judgment in his words, just a simple observation. It was surprisingly nice.

"Yes, actually; it's only been a few months." Deku forced an awkward smile, "Don't worry about me though; I've had plenty worse. And besides,-" he nodded towards Luffy's own bruised arm - "it looks like you got hurt too."

"Not too much," Luffy said, rubbing his forearm. "I was more surprised than anything, it did hurt though. Who was that guy?"

"I was hoping you'd know," Deku admitted, to which the older teen shook his head in the negatory. "I met him for the first time today when she" -he pointed to the little girl who'd curled into a small ball and was watching them both with wide, scared eyes that made Deku's heart hurt- "was trying to get away from him."

"Hmm," Luffy said, walking over to the girl. She froze and went quiet as he approached; her fear was still evident but she took on a kind of resigned despair, her eyes shut tight as she seemed to wait.

"Hi, what's your name?"

The girl's eyes opened and she blinked up at Luffy in surprise.

"Huh?" she squeaked.

Luffy plopped himself down, crossing his legs and sitting a few feet away from the girl.

"What's your name?" he repeated. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy."

"That is a silly name," the girl said softly, the slightest hint of amusement in her small voice. "I... I'm Eri."

"Nice to meet you, Eri," Deku said as he dragged himself up and over to the pair, sitting beside Luffy. "I'm Deku. It's nice to meet you."

Eri gave a tiny nod as her eyes focused in on his arm.

"Oh, don't you worry about that. It looks way worse than it is," he assured, before turning serious. "Eri, could you... could you tell us who that man was?"

Deku tried to keep his voice gentle and soft so as not to scare her but Eri went even paler than she already was and started scooting back from them.

"Nonono, don't be scared!" Deku attempted to calm the girl, reaching out to comfort her only for his wrist to be grabbed by Luffy.

"You're afraid of him," the teen observed, "and you are worried that he'll come after us if we know too much. You're right... but helping you already made us targets so telling us what you know won't do any more harm. If anything, knowing more will help keep us safe."

"You don't have to tell us anything you don't want to though," Deku added quickly. "We just want to help you."

Eri looked shocked, eyes widening before narrowing as she played with one of the dirty bandages wrapped around her arm. She bit at her lip, "He... that man calls himself Overhaul and he's supposed to take care of me; that is what my grandfather said. But he hurts me and uses my blood to do... bad stuff, to hurt people."

"That's horrible!" Deku shouted, startling the girl.

Luffy gave Eri a strange look; it was like he was sizing her up. "How can your blood hurt people?"

Eri shifted anxiously, "It's my quirk-" out of the corner of his eye, Deku saw confusion flash across Luffy's face "I can... Well, let me show you."

She squinted her eyes shut and scrunched up her face in concentration; Deku watched in amazement as the little horn on Eri's forehead throbbed, growing in size as a wave of energy flowed over him and Luffy. There was a tingling in his hand and, when he glanced down, Deku saw that the broken and busted limb was now good as new.

"Wow!" Luffy explained, holding up his own arm; the bruises having completely vanished. "That is so cool!"

'Dangerous too,' Deku realized, doubting that this was as simple as a healing quirk. 'I need help, this is way too big for me to handle on my own.'

"Hey, Eri," he said, turning back to the girl. "Do you want to come and meet some hero friends of mine? I think they can help you."

Fearful anxiety flashed across the girl's face once more but she seemed to swallow it down and gave a strong little nod. "I... I want to stay with you."

Then she surprised him by cuddling into his side, causing Deku to give her an awkward hug.

"Well, its time for me to be on my way," Luffy said, hopping to his feet.

Deku was surprised, "What? You're not going to stay?"

"No. Why would I do that?"

"Because you're a hero?"

A brand new one, Deku figured, given Luffy's age and the fact that he'd never heard of any 'Straw Hat Luffy' before.

"Me, a hero? No way, not in a million years!" Luffy laughed. "Listen up, I helped you guys because that fight was unfair but I'm no hero. Heroes are great, don't get me wrong, but that's too many rules for me. So it was nice to meet you Broccoli-Guy and Horn-Girl but I got to go find my Nakama now."

And, with that, Luffy gave a wave and turned to take a running leap from the rooftop.

"Wait!" Deku called out, causing the older teen to pause and look back. "If you're not a hero than what are you?"

Luffy gave a broad grin, "I'm a pirate, of course!"

And then he was gone.

"What do you think got stuck in there?" Ryo Nakamura asked as he and his co-worker, Takashi, peered into the depths of the jammed garbage truck.

"Who the hell knows? Car part maybe?" Takashi replied, scratching his head. "You didn't think to check the dumpster first?"

Ryo snorted, "No, why would I-"

SCREECH!

The compressor of the garbage truck was ripped open and, as the two men scrambled away, a horrifying figure emerged from the bowels of the vehicle.

Jumping to the ground, it looked around and declared,

"I... got lost."

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