Chapter 9: The Naming of Cats
It was a quiet night in the Aizawa-Hizashi household. Aizawa was still on a lot of pain meds and looked more mummy than human, and Hizashi was tired out from commentating all day. He'd already showered and changed into pajamas, which meant his hair was loose and un-styled around his shoulders. It was a crime that Aizawa couldn't run his fingers through it.
Aizawa blamed the medication for not noticing Izuku's mood right away. He'd come home and gone straight to his room, which wasn't entirely unusual. He was still riled up from Bakugou's treatment during the award ceremony, and Aizawa didn't blame him. The ceremony itself was one of those useless formalities he considered a waste of time, and if Bakugou truly didn't want that medal then no one should have forced him. More importantly, if Bakugou had been that violent, they shouldn't have tried to force him through the ceremony.
He almost thought one of the teacher's had done it to Bakugou on purpose, a way to get back at the kid's brash attitude in class. But he shut that line of thinking down fast, because he didn't want to start thinking ill of his colleagues. He needed to be able to trust them.
They ordered in for dinner that night. Hizashi was too exhausted to cook and Aizawa physically couldn't. When they called Izuku out, he appeared long enough to grab his share and then retreated back to his room without another word.
It left both men staring down the hall in confusion. In the six months Izuku had lived here, he'd never eaten in his room. They didn't have a solid rule against it, but Izuku had never asked to.
"Guess he's still upset about Bakugou?" Hizashi asked.
Aizawa grunted. He was still miffed about it, too, but he couldn't help wondering if there was more to it than that. If there was a reason seeing Bakugou treated like that hurt Izuku so much.
He meant to talk to Izuku about it before bed, but he and Hizashi both passed out on the couch watching a movie, and then they had to rush out the door in the morning to get back to UA for the second year's day of events.
He made Hizashi text Izuku throughout the day, and the short responses only reinforced his feelings that something was wrong.
They brought dinner home again and found Izuku still locked in his room.
Aizawa heaved a sigh and went to check on him. The door was cracked open so the cats could get in, and he was grateful he didn't have to convince Izuku to let him in. "Knock, knock."
"Come in," Izuku replied distantly. His was cross legged on his bed, laptop in front of him and a notebook at his side, and two cats in his lap.
Aizawa sat on the edge of the bed. Even though Izuku had lived here for six months, the room still felt more like the guest bedroom than someone's permanent room. He and Hizashi had offered to get Izuku decorations more suited to his taste, but he'd always refused. They were lucky he'd let them buy him clothes when he first moved in.
There were more tactful ways to go about this, but he didn't have the mental capacity to work out how through the pain meds. "What's wrong with you?"
Izuku stilled, his left hand resting on one of the cats. He slowly looked over from his computer screen, and Aizawa could see the lie building behind his eyes.
"Don't drag this out longer than it needs to be. Are you still upset about the awards ceremony?"
Izuku's expression darkened. "Yes. It's been all over the news today, despite Principal Nedzu's promise."
"There was no way he could have stopped it completely. Too many people saw it happen live. He's going to try and make the story die faster."
Izuku still scowled.
"The media is unforgiving. That's why top heroes care about their appearances so much, and why I stuck with underground work."
"I know that. I just…Kacchan didn't deserve that."
"I agree."
"No one understands how hard he trained when we were kids. You think it was easy for him to learn to jump around like that? He was wrapped in bandages through most of fourth grade because he kept skinning himself on the pavement every time he fell."
Aizawa's first thought was the idiot should have been practicing on grass, but that critique wasn't helpful at this moment. Bakugou figured it out, in the end, which was Izuku's point. "You don't need to convince me. I can see how hard he's working to be a hero."
His answer placated Izuku somewhat, but there was still tension coiled in Izuku's body.
"Is something else bothering you?"
Izuku's mouth twisted, and he started petting the cats again. "You're mad about it, too, right?"
Aizawa furrowed his brow, but Izuku couldn't see that with all the bandages. "I am. It's disappointing that one of my colleagues handled the situation so poorly."
He wouldn't look at Aizawa. "Yelling at Principal Nedzu like that…would a hero ever do that? Do heroes get mad like that?"
Aizawa sucked in a breath. It was a complicated question, because he could name certain heroes that would do something like that. Given the right motivation, he was probably one of them.
"Of course we get mad. We're human, and we see a lot of wrongs in the world. There isn't always someone to yell at, but when there is, it's hard not to."
"I wanted to punch whoever did that to him. I was so mad when we first saw him, the class had to hold me back from storming down to the stage in the middle of it. Does that…am I like my father?"
Ah. That was what this was about.
Shit.
He needed to be careful how he worded this. "Getting upset on someone else's behalf isn't wrong. Trying to make it better is what makes a hero. Heroes do need to control their emotions so they're not acting rashly and jumping in without thinking about the consequences. You're only fifteen, and you saw your best friend being treated pretty poorly. I wouldn't call you a villain for that."
The tension finally bled out of the kid's shoulders. "Really?"
Aizawa wanted to ruffle the kid's hair, or at least put a hand on his shoulder. Two broken arms at the same time was such a pain, it meant he had to use words to convey his thoughts. "Do I ever say anything I don't mean?"
Izuku gave him a flat look. "All the time. You call them logical ruses."
His mouth twitched with the beginnings of the smile. Thank goodness Izuku couldn't see it. "Okay, well I'm not deceiving you now. You're not a villain, kid. I don't think you could be one if you tried."
Izuku finally smiled, which loosened something in Aizawa's chest.
He stood up, jerking his head to the door. "Come on, dinner's ready."
Xx
When there was a knock on the door at one in the afternoon the next day, Izuku almost didn't answer it. Aizawa and Hizashi were out for the third and final day of the festival, and he'd been researching on the dark web all day. He wasn't expecting anyone, so he wasn't inclined to leave his cat nest for what was probably some salesmen.
But then Katsuki's voice boomed through the door. "Oi, nerd, open up!"
Izuku was up in a flash. "Kacchan?"
He pushed his way through the barely opened door, a bag slung over his shoulder. "About time."
Izuku closed the door behind him. "What are you doing here?"
"Aizawa texted me and told me to come over. Said you've been worrying about me. Which is stupid, by the way, I'm fine."
Izuku couldn't help his smile. "I'm glad. I yelled at Principal Nedzu for you, you know."
Katsuki's ears turned red. He turned away before Izuku could see how far the blush spread. Setting his bag down in front of the TV, he pulled out an Xbox. "Thanks."
"Hey, I'm serious. Restraining you like that wasn't okay. Aizawa agrees with me."
The memory still bothered him. Katsuki was brash and uncooperative on the best of days, and paired with the high energy from the festival, Izuku could imagine how difficult he'd been. But to treat him like a villain when he'd done nothing villainous? How would they treat Izuku if his past crimes got out? He was the one who deserved to be restrained like that. It wasn't fair to chain Katsuki up like that when they'd looked at a vigilante and decided to make him a hero, jumping through almost every legal hoop in the book to do so.
"It doesn't fucking matter," Katsuki stated. He hooked up the Xbox, shamelessly pulling out wires to make room for the console connections.
Izuku frowned and walked up behind Katsuki, quickly wrapping him in a hug. "It does so."
"I don't care what people think of me," Katsuki stated. "Now get off, I'm trying to do something."
Izuku released him and backed up to the couch. "I'm surprised you don't want to spar or train or something."
Katsuki scoffed and shoved in the last wire. "I could barely move my arms yesterday, I'm not dumb enough to train so soon." He reached into the bag again and then tossed a controller at Izuku. "Besides, I'm guessing you never got a chance to play All Might's latest video game."
Izuku froze, a familiar excitement bubbling under his skin. He hadn't had a chance. Between the cost of a new game, plus buying a console and a TV to play it on, Izuku couldn't justify the expense. He'd settled for watching all the game play videos he could find. "You really…"
Smirking, Katsuki turned everything on. "Go nuts."
They passed the afternoon like normal teenagers for once in their lives. Katsuki let Izuku play on his own for a while, and then they switched to multiplayer. They had a loud argument that almost turned into a physical wrestling match over who would be All Might and who would be Night Eye, but Izuku managed to win with his puppy dog eyes.
Not that Katsuki didn't keep trying to tell Izuku how to play as All Might and what he should be doing, which had Izuku snapping at him constantly. From an outside perspective, it probably didn't look like they were having any fun.
That was certainly what Hizashi and Aizawa thought when they trudged back home later. They watched in awe for a few minutes, and then Hizashi asked them to turn the game off. His nerves couldn't handle their bickering after watching the third years all day.
Katsuki stayed for dinner before heading home. Izuku felt a pang of sadness when the door closed behind him, even though he'd see him in class the next day. But he wasn't Izuku at school, he was Ryu. Today, for a few hours, it felt like the last two and a half years of his life had never happened.
Reality crashed around him when he thought of his mother, and he clung to one of the cats for most of the night. He needed to hurry up and catch his father so he could come out of hiding.
Xx
They were picking hero names in class that they would use in their upcoming internships. Izuku practically vibrated in his seat. He'd had a name picked out for ages, ever since the debacle with Alley Cat happened.
It had been hard to come up with. Most obvious fire related names had been taken by heroes in the past, and he preferred having something more original. He considered names based around knights and dragon slaying, because he would one day take down his father, but once he did that, any dragon slaying name wouldn't fit anymore.
One day, his father wouldn't be a problem. Izuku would surpass Dragon's villainous reputation and overcome everything that stood in his way. It might be a longer road than he'd first thought, but he'd succeed one day.
When it was his turn to share, he stood tall with his shoulders back and proudly displayed his white board. "The Flaming Hero: Eclipse."
"Is that because you hold the fire around you, like the sun behind the moon?" Hagakure asked.
"That's part of it," Izuku admitted. "The main reason is because I'm going to overcome everything and everyone that's blocked my path to being a hero. I'll eclipse them."
Midnight grinned. "Very nice. Accepted!"
Katsuki smirked as Izuku took his seat and passed him a note. Beats fucking Alley Cat.
Izuku stifled a groan and put his head on his desk. Stupid twelve year old panic…he was never going to live that down.
Also, considering some of the names Katsuki tried to use, he had no room to talk.
The next day, Todoroki approached Izuku after class with an offer.
Izuku blinked at him, because the words that came out of his mouth made no sense. He swallowed, mouth incredibly dry for some reason. "Could-could you repeat that?" It was a good thing he was still sitting at his desk. He didn't think he could stand right now.
"Would you like to do your internship with me at Endeavor's agency?"
Yeah, that was what Izuku had heard the first time, but the words still refused to make sense in his head. Why would Todoroki offer such a prestigious opportunity like this to him, of all people? Why was Todoroki even interning there, given what he'd told Izuku during the festival? Did Endeavor really agree to this? He didn't seem like the type to go around offering internships to anyone.
With his mind in a complete state of confusion, all Izuku could get out of his mouth was "Why?"
Todoroki shifted from foot to foot. "Since you couldn't participate in the festival, you didn't get any requests, right?"
That was true. He'd actually been planning on doing his internship with Aizawa, which would also be smart with his situation.
"As much as I dislike my father, he's still the number two hero. There's a lot he can teach us about being a top hero. You mentioned before you used to study his fights, so I thought you might appreciate a closer look."
Izuku couldn't help his wide smile. "That's super thoughtful of you, Todoroki, thank you."
The tips of Todoroki's ears reddened.
It was smarter to stick with interning with Aizawa, and Izuku had been looking forward to doing night patrols again. But Todoroki had a point about Endeavor being the number two hero. There were a lot of resources that came with such a prestigious position. "Can I think about it tonight?"
Todoroki nodded. "Of course. You probably already have your choices picked out, but I wanted to offer it to you anyway."
"I appreciate it," Izuku said.
He would definitely have to think about it.
Aizawa and Hizashi didn't look thrilled at the idea when Izuku brought it up over dinner.
"I don't know, little listener. Paparazzi hang around Endeavor all the time, and if you help out with a rescue they'll want to talk with you." Hizashi tapped his chopsticks on the edge of his bowl.
"Why would you want to take the internship?" Aizawa asked in his teacher voice.
"He is the number two hero, and he has been for a long time. He would know a lot about what it takes to be a pro. Plus he also has a fire quirk, and he has to know ways of getting around the downsides of such a dangerous quirk."
Aizawa hummed. "No other reasons?"
This guy really did catch everything, didn't he? "Well, I was also thinking-- hoping is more accurate, but. His agency is huge, they look into all kinds of things. He might know something about where my father is right now."
Hizashi stopped tapping the chopsticks. "If you just want to do this so you can run off and fight your father, I'm putting my foot down right now."
"No, I wouldn't!" Izuku said. "If they knew Dragon's exact location, Endeavor would have gone after him already, wouldn't he? But if they have something about him, I might be able to fill in some gaps with what I know."
Hizashi and Aizawa looked to each other, having a silent conversation with their eyes. Aizawa shrugged, and Hizashi sighed.
"I appreciate your honesty," Aizawa said. "So if you really want to do this, we won't hold you back. I probably wouldn't be up for many patrols, anyway."
He was still nursing a sore body. The bandages weren't as thick, and he had some mobility back in his left arm, but his right arm was taking longer to repair the muscles in his elbow.
"But you stay away from paparazzi, got it?" Hizashi said.
"Got it," Izuku agreed. That was an easy compromise.
So, he redid his internship application form and submitted it the next day.
Internships were all the class could talk about during lunch. Everyone seemed hopeful about their picks. Todoroki didn't say much, but he chose to sit next to Izuku instead of off by himself like usual, and Izuku couldn't stop grinning.
Another person who didn't say much was Iida. They all knew what happened to his brother during the festival, so his quieter mood wasn't unusual. He'd happily said he wanted to go to Manual Agency, and Izuku scoured his mind to remember the agency.
It took him until the end of lunch to remember. It was in Hosu city, the same city Iida's brother had been hurt in.
That was not a coincidence.
But Iida was more rational than that, right? He wouldn't go looking for such a dangerous criminal, would he?
He tried to talk to Iida a few times, but Iida kept brushing him off. And the look he had on his face as they separated at the train station…
"I'm worried about him, too," Todoroki admitted quietly beside him.
"I wish I could do more to help," Izuku said. His fingers tightened around his costume's case.
"Me too. We'll have to put our faith in his agency to keep him safe," Todoroki said.
Izuku nodded. Their train pulled in, and they found seats against the window together.
"I feel I should warn you more about my father," Todoroki said. His gaze was focused on the case in his lap.
"That's alright." Izuku grinned. "I get the feeling he's a pretty intimidating guy. I'm not expecting him to take it easy on us this week."
Todoroki relaxed a little. "You're right, he won't. Especially you. He's…curious about why I asked for you to come. He'll have high expectations."
"I'll do my best to meet them!" Izuku promised.
Todoroki's mouth twitched with the beginning of a smile. "I also have a confession."
Anxiety tapped against Izuku's stomach. "Oh?"
"I'm hoping your more conservative way of fighting with fire will piss him off."
Oh. Todoroki was using Izuku for teenage rebellion. "So…you want me to deliberately make him mad?"
"Not deliberately," Todoroki said. "And he won't take it out on you."
"That makes it sound like he'll take it out on you!"
Todoroki shook his head. "He has more control over his anger than that."
"But what if he doesn't?" If he was going to potentially get Todoroki hurt, he was jumping off this train at the next station.
"Sasaki, I wouldn't have offered you this internship if I thought it would hurt either of us," Todoroki said.
That…yeah, Todoroki was smart enough to think things through like that. Izuku calmed down. And he did appreciate the warning later, when he stood before Endeavor in all his flaming glory. His face looked like it had forgotten what smiling felt like.
He made the two of them spar that afternoon so he could see what Izuku's abilities were like, and like Todoroki had said, Izuku's style did make Endeavor frown. That was the only sign it irritated him.
Todoroki smirked as they walked back to Endeavor's office afterwards.
Izuku had never been happier for the ability to control fire.
For the most part, Endeavor seemed intent on ignoring him. He didn't address Izuku directly unless he had to, and he barely even looked at him. This worked for Izuku just fine the rest of the first day and most of the second.
On the second day, Endeavor announced they were taking a work trip to Hosu city. He gave Izuku and Todoroki a file about the Hero Killer, which Izuku greedily devoured in the car.
"He sticks to back alleys for the most part, which makes sense, and he goes after heroes alone. His quirk probably works better that way. It's interesting that he's attacked and permanently injured so many heroes, though, instead of killing all of them, like he's trying to send some kind of message…"
Todoroki elbowed him harshly in the side to get him to stop mumbling, shooting Endeavor a quick glance.
They started patrolling as soon as they arrived, familiarizing themselves with the city. Everywhere they went, people scattered from Endeavor's path and fumbled for their phones. Izuku kept pulling his hood lower over his face and started lagging behind, so there were less chances he'd be caught in the pictures.
Todoroki noticed quickly and dropped back next to him. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just…not a fan of the attention, I guess."
Todoroki tilted his head. "Heroes have to deal with it all the time."
"I know," Izuku said. "I'll get used to it eventually, I'm sure."
Todoroki hummed. "This is more attention than usual. Endeavor doesn't usually work in Hosu, so the locals are taking advantage."
"That makes sense. Do you usually get mobbed when you go out, since you're his son?" And easily recognizable?
"I…don't really go out, much, so not really."
Izuku had a strong urge to hug him. Todoroki looked so sad saying that, and he wouldn't meet Izuku's eyes now.
Izuku's father may have been a registered villain, but he felt like Todoroki had had the sadder childhood between the two of them.
He lightly bumped his shoulder into Todoroki. "Guess I'll have to start dragging you around after school, then."
Todoroki's mouth did the little twitch that Izuku was learning meant he was smiling. New goal: earn a real smile from Todoroki one day.
They took a break from patrolling for a late dinner, and not long after that, everything went wrong.
Explosions in the distance made the ground tremble beneath them, and an orange glow was rising over the buildings. Endeavor received a short call with a brief explanation and a location, and then they were racing through the streets to help.
This wasn't the work of the Hero Killer. It wasn't his style at all, and there'd been something in the distress call about monsters. But even if the Hero Killer hadn't started this disaster, Izuku wouldn't put it past him to take advantage of the opportunity. Heroes would be crawling all over the city. One of them was bound to be cornered and caught off guard.
Maybe even Iida and his supervising hero.
Definitely an Iida looking for revenge.
Oh man, Iida would have come to the same conclusions Izuku had, and he had the motivation to go running off looking for the Hero Killer during all this. It would be easy to slip away from his supervisor. If he was caught against the Hero Killer alone, he wouldn't fare much better than his brother had.
It was exactly what Izuku would do if he knew Dragon was lurking around town.
Izuku glanced at Endeavor and Todoroki in front of him. He didn't have time to explain this to them, and they'd waste more time arguing about it than they had.
When the next side street came up, Izuku slipped away without a word. He'd apologize later, but he knew he was right about this. Iida would get himself killed without backup, and Izuku was the only one able to provide it right now.
Making some fire, Izuku stepped onto the flames and surfed through the back alleys. It was faster than running, and he needed every second he could get.
Even then, he barely made it in time.
The Hero Killer made a terrifying figure, poised above an immobile Iida on the ground, sword glinting in the moonlight.
Izuku hopped off his fire and sent it ahead of him as a solid ball, knocking the Hero Killer back before he could plunge his sword into Iida. The pro hero Native was knocked out on the ground, too, which would make this difficult.
"Sasaki?" Iida asked. "What are you doing here?"
"Long story," Izuku said. He positioned himself between Iida and the Hero Killer, who was rising to his feet. "Can you move?"
"No, I'm sorry."
Izuku brought the fire ball back and let it hover over his right hand. Was it some kind of paralysis quirk, then?
Stain rubbed ash off his chest. "This doesn't concern you, kid. It's admirable that you're trying to save your friend, but I have a duty to kill him and this so-called pro. When your friend chose to fight me, it guaranteed that the weaker of us would be culled."
The glare from Stain's red eyes sent shivers down Izuku's back. The look in them reminded him of another night, in the sewers. They were the eyes of a man who had just decided to kill him.
And just like that night, Izuku knew his best chances of survival were running away. With two paralyzed people, though, that was a lot harder. He couldn't leave them, and he didn't think Stain would give him the time to gather enough flames to carry all three of them away.
Discretely, with his left hand, he slipped his phone out of his pocket and sent his location to the class group chat. He would have sent it to Todoroki directly, but he didn't have time to search his contacts. Hopefully Todoroki had his phone on.
"I'm not letting you hurt my friend," Izuku said. He slipped his phone back in his pocket and dropped into a fighting stance. The Hero Killer had a bunch of knives and swords, and he didn't like the looks of them.
"Please, Sasaki, don't get involved," Iida begged. "I couldn't bear it if you got hurt because of me!"
"You should listen to him," the Hero Killer said.
"Don't make me repeat myself," Izuku stated. He split his fireball to hover over both hands, readying himself to fight. "Meddling when you don't need to is the essence of being a hero!"
Stain looked at him in surprise for a moment, like he couldn't believe Izuku was actually choosing to fight instead of save himself. He wiped the expression from his face a second later, readjusting his grip on his sword. "You fancy yourself a hero? Fine, then you can die along with him!" the Hero Killer announced.
Then he lunged.