The previous afternoon, Izuku had explained his idea to a few other teachers; obviously, they all objected.
All Might, being the man he was, was luckily able to convince them that they had a plan; a plan that would work, if done correctly. Izuku would go to the LOV, have a tracker on him so his location would be known in case of an emergency, and he had to report back once in a while so they knew he was okay.
After the other teachers finally agreed, All Might let Izuku go for the night, expecting the boy to meet him outside the next day before leaving for the LOV.
Izuku on the hand had other plans.
"WHAT DO MEAN HE'S GONE?!" Bakugou yelled. Early in the morning, All Might had gone to get Izuku ready for his little trip to the LOV; when he didn't get an answer after knocking on his door, All Might had entered and noticed that Izuku was gone. He'd searched the whole campus for the young boy, and finally, after checking the security cameras, he saw Izuku had left in the middle of the night.
That was not what they had agreed on.
"This is not the way things should have gone, but we can't do anything about it now; he's already left campus. Hopefully, Midoriya at least put the tracker on so we can keep an eye on him while he's gone..." All Might muttered.
He looked around the security room and found what he was looking for: a small monitor with Izuku's location put into it.
"Phew..." sighing, he showed Bakugou the monitor. Relieved to at least know Izuku's location, All Might followed Bakugou to his first class, then headed to his room to start work; obviously worried, he at least knew Izuku could handle himself, even though he'd been stupid enough to leave on his own accord.
Izuku had left in the middle of the night because he just couldn't wait till the morning. He figured the LOV would be easy to locate during the night because they were villains, and villains usually worked during nighttime. Izuku packed a small bag, then headed out of campus.
Sneaking out had been easier than he thought; since he hadn't been stopped from leaving, he figured the person in the security room hadn't been paying much attention, luckily.
"Not their fault, it's the middle of the night, of course, they would be tired and unfocused." He thought. Upon reaching the campus front gate, he threw his bag over the fence and then heaved himself over the steel gate.
"Now... Where would the LOV hide?" Izuku thought. He started heading down some sketchy alleyways; he obviously kept his guard up, peeking around the building corners and looking behind him so no one was following him.
About half an hour later, Izuku found himself in the outskirts of the city; the forest lay ahead.
"Maybe the LOV has a hideout somewhere out there..." Izuku thought, heading deep into the undergrowth. Walking in the middle of the night in a forest wasn't very easy; Izuku almost constantly tripped on brambles, and his phone flashlight wasn't strong enough for him to see very well.
Suddenly there was a noise in a nearby bush; Izuku stopped and listened.
"Hello...?" He whispered; no answer. He kept walking a bit further into the forest when suddenly without warning, something covered his mouth from behind and he was harshly thrown onto the ground.
Regaining his vision, he saw a girl sitting on top of him; a knife in her hand, the blade pressed directly against his throat.
"What are you doing here Deku?" He finally noticed who it was.
"Toga?" He questioned. Trying to awkwardly free himself from her weight, she pressed the knife harder against his throat. "Im not gonna do anything... I was actually looking for the LOV, so it's great that I found you-" He explained.
She cocked her head confused, and glared down at him on the ground.
"What do you want with us?" Toga asked, cautiously getting off him but still pressing the knife against his throat. Izuku stood stiffly, silently glancing at her; any sudden movement and she would kill him instantly, best be careful.
"So I ask you again Deku... What do you want with the LOV? Is anyone else with you-" She asked, frantically scanning the area around them. Izuku quickly reassured her that he was alone; he obviously didn't mention the tracker in his pocket.
"The reason I tracked you down is a bit complicated... But I really need to speak with AFO." Izuku explained. Toga looked at him like he was crazy; of course, she thought he was crazy to ask such a question. "Is there any chance I can speak with him...?" Izuku asked, awkwardly shifting where he stood.
He was aware Toga was ready to kill him if he tried to run away now.
"And why do you want to speak with him?" She asked, taking a threatening step towards Izuku. She started walking around him whilst waiting for him to answer.
"Um... I had a quirk-related incident with a villain and I think AFO can help because... We have similar quirks." Izuku mumbled. Toga stopped pacing around him for a moment; she seemed to ponder about bringing him to the LOV's base or not.
"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt for you to ask... But there are certain conditions if this is gonna happen." Toga said; she handed him a blood-stained handkerchief from her pocket. Izuku took the handkerchief in a disgusted manner and put it on as asked.
A few seconds later Toga was leading him through the forest; it was even harder now not to trip since now he was blinded by the handkerchief.
The two of them walked in silence for a few minutes; Izuku had no idea which direction they were heading, but finally, they stopped.
They had apparently reached the LOV's base.
"Guys, look who I found wandering outside!" Toga yelled. She shoved Izuku onto the floor and held him there; Izuku didn't try to do anything since he knew he would be surrounded by the rest of the LOV shortly.
"Don't tell me you found another stray cat in the forest-" A male voice entered the room, abruptly stopping his steps when he saw Izuku on the floor. "TOGA! Why did you bring a UA kid here, are you absolutely out of your mind!?" It appeared the person freaked out knowing he was from UA. Izuku heard the male drag Toga over to the edge of the room and talk to her in an angry tone, but suddenly he calmed down, seeming to walk back to him.
"Who do we have here then?" Izuku felt the blindfold suddenly get yanked off his face. Barely having any time to react he was shoved onto a chair instead, immediately getting tied up.
"What are you doing out here kid?" Shaking away his blurry vision, Izuku looked up and saw who he was talking to; it was Shigaraki, the villain he'd encountered that one time at the mall.
Izuku gulped, finally realizing how deep into enemy territory he really was; he had to be careful or else he could end up in deep trouble.
"I know you, don't I...?" Shigaraki mumbled, after finally noticing Izuku's familiar features. "Your that kid I threatened at the mall, aren't you?" Shiagarki asked, stepping closer to Izuku.
"Yeah, that's me..." Izuku muttered. Shigaraki started pacing around the chair he was on, studying him closely; suddenly something caught his eye. He reached down and yanked out the tracking device from Izukus's pocket, immediately incinerating it to dust.
"This is the reason we don't bring random people to the base Toga-" Shiagarki snapped, glaring at the blonde; she seemed to understand what he'd meant. "Can't have your stupid school come and find us now, can we?" Shigaraki chuckled, looking back at Izuku; he bent down and looked the greenette in the eyes balefully. "Now, tell me Deku... Why are you really here? I mean, I doubt you came here to spy because if that's the case, you're doing an absolutely awful job."
Izuku gulped, feeling the fear in his body rise.
The only thing that reassured him and the people back at UA had been destroyed; the tracking device was the only thing that could ensure All Might and the teachers that he was fine, and now only a few hours after he'd left...
That hope was gone.
He was trapped in the LOV's base, and no one back at UA knew his location. He also had no way to report back; the one thing he'd promised to do before leaving.
"No, I'm not here to spy. My quirk is gone so I need to speak to AFO since his quirk is the most similar to mine, and he might know how I can get it back." Izuku explained; the vague explanation was all Shiagarki was gonna get. Shigaraki just chuckled at him; it made Izuku nervous.
"Who made you think you can just waltz in here and expect that you have the right to speak to AFO, out of all the people?!" Shigaraki snapped; from out of nowhere he seemed angry. "You're just a high school boy, and you might have a similar quirk to AFO, but that doesn't make you special!" He continued. "What in the world did you expect? AFO is a busy man, he doesn't just have time for someone like you even though your quirk may be similar-"
"Shigaraki, calm down." Another person walked into the room; he walked over, shoving Shigaraki away from Izuku, proceeding to stand in between them. "Just because he doesn't have time for you, doesn't mean he won't have time for this boy."
A short old man stood in front of him, glasses covering his eyes; Izuku could not see what his expression hid.
"Why don't you explain what happened to you before we move on..." The man asked. Izuku sighed, and started explaining exactly what had happened during the mission; about how Black Death basically erased his quirk and he had no way to activate it again.
"Oh, Black Death is a clever villain... It's very unfortunate it was him that erased your quirk." The man said; his tone sounded sarcastic. "His quirk is very powerful... Basically, it works like this: He can choose when to turn off and on his quirk so unlike Eraser Head, he can still take away people's quirks despite having eye contact."
Finally, Izuku understood how his quirk had been erased. Black Death had chosen the perfect moment to erase it, tricking everyone including himself.
"But how am I supposed to get it back? It can't possibly be permanent, I can still feel my quirk in me, it just doesn't active any more!" Izuku asked.
"You mentioned your quirk is similar to AFO's... In that case, this case might interest him enough to at least speak with you." The man muttered. He glanced at Toga, then at Shigarki. "Im waiting!" He snapped, turning back to them.
Toga understood and ran out of the room; she came back a moment later with a phone in hand. She gave the phone to the man, and Izuku guessed he called AFO.
"I have someone here who might interest you." He said, handing the phone to Izuku. Currently being tied up, the man just put the phone on speaker mode and waited for Izuku to say something.
"Hello..?" He asked. Izuku expected an immediate answer, but the phone was silent. The older man glanced at the phone, also seeming to wait for AFO to say something but there was only silence. Then finally a voice emerged from the speaker.
"The boy's quirk is interesting... Help him Garaki, I trust you can." AFO said, then he hung up. Garaki shifted where he stood, seeming proud that AFO had trusted that he could help Izuku.
"Im AFO's personal doctor, of course I can help." He muttered, walking out of the room. Upon reaching the door he turned around at motioned for Toga to grab Izuku.
"What are you doing-?" Izuku questioned, seeing how Toga approached him. She placed the blindfold on him again, then untied him from the chair. He awkwardly stood up and proceed to get led through the LOV's base; a run-down house from what Izuku could see based on the room he was just in.
After a few minutes of walking, Toga finally let go of his shoulders and took the blindfold off his eyes. Finally seeing where he was, he noticed he was in a room filled with various lab-like equipment. Standing in the middle of the room was Garaki, seeming ready to start with him any moment.
"This is my lab, where I'll help you get your quirk back. Don't be scared, I won't let anything bad happen to you..." Garaki said, motioning for Izuku to come over to him. He cautiously went over to where Garaki was standing, noticing the gurney next to the man.
Assuming he was supposed to lie down, he cautiously sat down on the edge instead.
"Let's get started then, shall we...?" Garaki asked, turning to face Izuku on the gurney.
For a split second, Izuku finally saw the expression behind Garaki's glasses; it was not well intent.
He had made a mistake coming here, and now it was too late to turn back.