...

Naomasa reluctantly stood in the Rat God's office. Before he left the Middle School he assigned an essay to the kids. It was a basic analysis essay to see what their minds could do. He hadn't expected much from the group. Even if he let them choose who they would analyze.

He however did expect good things from Midoriya based on what he had seen of the kid's notebook. Curiosity had kept him watching the young boy. Mumbling had come back in full force. More than once he saw the blond boy twitch as if he wanted to yell at Midoriya. Then it was as if he had remembered the detective was there. It would not do to piss him off.

When the kids were done they were dismissed for the day. All except for Midoriya who seemed to have gotten detention. Was it for being late? That didn't make sense to him. It couldn't have been more than a few minutes.

Naomasa stuck around the classroom as he read through some of the analysis. There was something going on in this school. He was sure that he wouldn't like whatever it was. To protect the kid he kept close by until his detention.

By the teacher's annoyed reaction it was a good one. No matter how much the other man tried to convince him to leave he refused. Then when Midoriya was dismissed he walked the boy out of the school. No one was waiting for them as an ambush or friendly gesture. He had to wonder what kind of life Midoriya had. Instinct told him it wasn't something he actually wanted to know.

Per usual he was to give the analysis to Nezu and Aizawa. It was an agreement between them. Analysis essays were given and read over by the three. This would allow them to find those with the potential to become true heroes. Those that might do better under the personal guidance of a hero.

Naomasa doubted there would be many this year. The number of promising students had been dropping steadily over the years. Students didn't even know what they were looking for anymore. Most wanted to be Daylight heroes.

Then he came across Midoriya's essay and his heart froze. The analysis of Eraserhead had been spot on. So spot on that if it fell into the wrong hands the hero would end up dead. Which was why he was now doing the one thing he didn't want to do. Introduce Nezu to the kid's analytical mind.

Eraser was reading the papers from over Nezu's shoulder. Naomasa watched as the blood drained from his face. He knew the feeling. The same sick feeling of what a child was capable of.

Nezu asked suddenly, "You are sure this was written by a Middle Schooler?"

Naomasa said tiredly, "I watched him work on it and heard the mumbles. There is no mistaking who wrote it."

Nezu tapped a paw on his desk as he said, "This is on the level of professionals. To think a child would have such skill. What is his quirk?"

"A mild intelligence quirk," he replied, "Though..."

That had both heroes looking at him in curiosity. Eraser questioned, "Though? You think that this is false?"

Naomasa recounted what he had seen in the kid's notebook. The two Pros exchanged a look. They didn't believe that it meant anything. As odd as it was they thought it could simply be an overactive imagination.

If he hadn't seen it for himself Naomasa might have agreed with them. The drawing however would not leave his mind. Questions of what would work against the thing he had drawn.

They returned their attention to the paper he brought. For now, they dismissed the thoughts of Midoriya's quirk. He couldn't ignore it, however. There was more to it than what they knew. Only Midoriya had answers.

...

He done fucked up.

That was the single thought that ran through his head as he hid behind a crate. He should have kept a closer eye on his time but he thought he had enough time to take down these Trigger runners. To his annoyance, he did not have enough time. There were too many people for him to put in zip-ties.

It hadn't been simply about taking down a Trigger ring. When he arrived he found out why Tsukauchi and Eraserhead weren't in their usual spots. Both men were tied up in a corner. One of the drug dealers had been in the middle of deciding what to do with them.

That had decided whether or not he would interfere. With moments left he had to work as quickly and efficiently as possible. So the first thing he did was untie the men and return their weapons to them. Then he activated Tsukauchi's emergency button. From there he began tying up the drug dealers.

Izuku had only been halfway through the job when Zero Hour ended. The blue hue faded and the world returned to its normal state. Ten seconds that's exactly how long he had to get to cover.

Half a second behind him Eraser and Tsukauchi had followed. The two looked as if they had seen a ghost. To be fair neither had actually seen him before this point. This situation made him glad he had worn a hoodie and mask. Though the mask was pooled around his neck. The hood cast shadows over his face so they wouldn't be able to see his features.

Tsukauchi rasped in pain, "Zero?"

"The one and only detective," replied Izuku in a low tone his voice changer doing its job, "What the hell were the two of you thinking coming here alone?! What would you have done if I hadn't shown up?"

Detective and hero exchanged a look of uncertainty. Izuku didn't notice as he continued to rant about their stupidity. They could hear the men behind them trying to get free of their bonds.

Eraser questioned oddly calm, "How did you even get here? Better yet how did you activate Tsukauchi's emergency signal, return my capture scarf and his gun? All without us seeing you."

"Can we not talk about this now?"

Both men gave him a look that said they would be talking about this. Right over Izuku's dead body. Almost as if the drug dealers heard his thoughts shots were fired over their heads. That was not a suggestion!

Eraser questioned with some hesitance as his hand touched his capture scarf, "Zero can you use your quirk here?"

Shaking his head Izuku replied, "Out of time," at their confused looks, "I've never used it back to back likely it won't work."

Izuku grabbed one of his knives and looked over their cover. Four men were on their feet. Two had moved as if they were going to flank them. They had split up to take them from both sides. The other two had guns drawn and pointed at their cover. At least the ones Izuku had tied up were still down.

Leaning against their cover he said, "Four men are left. Two are trying to flank us while the others cover. We need a plan before they get too close."

Hero and vigilante exchanged a long look. There were only two options here. Try and take the two flanking them. Or keep the flankers busy hoping that backup would soon arrive. Izuku wouldn't hold his breath for backup. Anytime he placed his faith in someone they had let him down. They needed to take their fate into their own hands. Otherwise, they would die.